Tbilisi, Georgia
Georgian officials are furious that Russian officials hosted three Georgian rebel leaders in Moscow this week. Just last week, Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov helped broker a peaceful transfer of power when former president Eduard Shevardnadze stepped down in the face of widespread protests over alleged corruption. Now, though, the Russians, who have long covertly supported rebel movements in Georgia as a way of maintaining influence over the former Soviet republic, have suddenly started to deal openly with the leaders of three separatist regions. “Tbilisi is, naturally, very irritated,” said acting president Nino Burdzhanadze. The U.S. sided with the new Georgian government. “No support should be given to breakaway elements seeking to weaken Georgia’s territorial integrity,” said U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell.
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