LOCALS, POLICE CLASH IN AKHALKALAKI

Civil Georgia, Georgia
Oct 6 2005

Hundreds of local residents in Akhalkalaki, a town in Georgia’s
south-western region of Samtskhe-Javakheti, which is predominantly
populated by ethnic Armenians, rallied on October 5 protesting against
the closure of trade facilities by financial police. Tensions flared
up after police fired several shots into the air to disperse the rally.

President Saakashvili said while commenting on the Akhalkalaki
incident, that “there is no serious problem and law-enforcers are
maintaining order in the region.”

“We are establishing control in this region [Samtskhe-Javakheti],
which was out of full control over previous years. Any attempts to
trigger disorders will be unsuccessful,” Saakashvili told reporters
on October 6.