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No end to emergency rule for now in Georgia
Associated Press
Published November 11, 2007
TBILISI, Georgia - Georgia's president said Saturday he would not allow foreign pressure to determine when to end a state of emergency imposed last week, though he assured he would lift the restrictions soon. President Mikhail Saakashvili's remarks came as a senior U.S. envoy headed to the country to seek reassurances that the emergency measures would soon be lifted, and after a European human rights group criticized the restrictions, including a ban on independent news broadcasts. "In the near future, the state of emergency in Georgia will be lifted," Saakashvili told a group of business leaders. "This will happen when the situation in the country normalizes and I am sure that our population is safe." He appears to have defused a standoff with the opposition by calling for an early election in January. The crisis - the most serious political crisis Saakashvili has faced in his four years in office - began Nov. 2, when tens of thousands of people began noisy protests outside Parliament to press for changes in the electoral system to give the opposition a bigger voice. They also began calling for his ouster.
[Last modified November 11, 2007, 02:31:17]
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