STOP NATO: �NO PASARAN! - HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK Georgia's Independence Mired in Poverty, Strife TBILISI, May 28, 2001 -- (Reuters) Georgia defused an army revolt over pay and conditions hours before the republic celebrated the 10th anniversary of its post-Soviet independence on Saturday. The nation headed by President Eduard Shevardnadze, the 73-year-old former Soviet foreign minister, still faces political uncertainty and economic hardship. So dire is the economic situation that the Defense Ministry announced it would not be putting soldiers out on the streets for an anniversary march despite earlier statements by officials that the parade -- a Soviet-era tradition -- would take place. Some troops did walk out of their barracks on Friday in protest against their conditions of service. Prompting fears of an attempted coup, around 400 fully armed men of a national guard battalion quit their garrison outside Tbilisi and occupied a nearby police base. After a day of suspense filled with official accusations of high treason, Shevardnadze went to negotiate with the mutineers in person -- only to find they were claiming 14 months of back wages, new uniforms and decent wages. The rebels agreed to return to their garrison in exchange for a presidential pledge of immunity from prosecution. But Shevardnadze seemed far from trying to blame the troops for their action. "The state is no less guilty than they are in what has happened; in normal conditions this would not have happened," he said after the talks. The incident was one of the easiest Shevardnadze has had to deal with since coming to power in 1992. Shortly after Shevardnadze installed himself in Tbilisi, Georgian forces suffered a humiliating defeat from separatist rebels in the breakaway Black Sea republic of Abkhazia, which remains outside his control. Shevardnadze himself survived a coup attempt in 1993 and assassination attempts in 1995 and 1998. There has also been civil war with separatists in South Ossetia, in which thousands died. But the crumbling economy remains by far the biggest problem for the mountainous republic. The average monthly wage is just $35 and half the population of 5.5 million live below the poverty line. Worsened relations with Russia, the main power supplier, means people live virtually without heating and electricity blackouts are a daily routine. Rampant corruption and a decrepit infrastructure offer little hope of a revival and the International Monetary Fund this month withheld a loan for want of visible improvements. Georgia's star project is a crude oil pipeline from the Caspian to Turkey which, if accomplished, is due to cross the republic and give Tbilisi millions of dollars in transit fees. __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Get personalized email addresses from Yahoo! Mail - only $35 a year! http://personal.mail.yahoo.com/ ______________________________________________________________________ To unsubscribe, write to [EMAIL PROTECTED]
