World Digest
Shevardnadze sees risk of civil war in Georgia

	SHAKH AIVAZOV / AP Georgians gather to protest outside parliament in Tbilisi yesterday, despite pleas from President Eduard Shevardnadze.
	E-mail this article Print this article Search archive

TBILISI, Georgia — As protesters formed a human chain around his residence yesterday, President Eduard Shevardnadze pleaded with his countrymen not to risk civil war, and hinted that if the crisis eases, he might resign.

Accused by opposition leaders of rigging the results of Nov. 2 parliamentary elections, Shevardnadze declared in a nationally televised news conference that wherever vote-counting irregularities occurred, they could be corrected but that the new parliament should be allowed to open later this month.

"Once the parliament begins to work and the legislative branch enters into force, then maybe I will be the first to sign an act of resignation of the president," Shevardnadze said. "But to resign now would be an irresponsible step on my part.

"I will not allow a split in society followed by confrontation and a civil war. This is a real danger. I am not threatening anyone. I am simply telling you the truth. Before it is too late, we should come to our senses."

Mikheil Saakashvili, a key opposition leader, called for the launch of a civil disobedience campaign starting today aimed at paralyzing the government.

W. African leader's rival held after health challenge

CONAKRY, Guinea — Police detained a leading opposition figure in the West African state of Guinea on Thursday after he cast doubt on a health certificate that allowed ailing President Lansana Conte to run for reelection next month.

Jean Marie Dore, a popular parliamentarian, was taken in on suspicion of insulting Conte. If convicted, he could face five years in prison.

The subject is particularly sensitive for Conte, a chain-smoking diabetic whose worsening health problems have fueled a spate of coup rumors and bred uncertainty because he has no obvious successor.

Since seizing power in a military coup in 1984, Conte won controversial elections in 1993 and 1998.

Irish crime reporter guarded by police after bomb hoax

DUBLIN, Ireland — Ireland's highest-profile crime reporter was under police protection yesterday after army experts dismantled a hoax bomb outside his home.

Paul Williams, crime editor of the Sunday World tabloid, said he knows which gang is threatening him but won't be intimidated from exposing key figures in Ireland's underworld.

"These scumbags aren't going to stop me from doing what I do for a living," he said.

Another of Ireland's high-profile crime reporters, Veronica Guerin, was shot to death in June 1996. Two men were later convicted of her murder.

Williams has written four books on Dublin crime.

Greek gays demonstrate over broadcast restrictions

ATHENS, Greece — About 30 homosexual protesters smooched in public yesterday to demonstrate against Greek TV regulators who fined a station $116,000 for broadcasting a scene of two men kissing.

"They want to tell us who we can kiss and what time kissing is appropriate," Grigoris Valianatos, a gay activist, said moments before embracing a fellow protester. "We believe a kiss is an act of love, tenderness and courage."

Homosexuals in Greece complain of discrimination by employers, and displays of affection by gay couples are widely frowned upon. The predominant Orthodox Church also strongly opposes gay marriage.

Body hanging in building mistaken for sculpture

BUDAPEST, Hungary — Police removed the corpse yesterday of a man believed to have hanged himself at least a year ago after builders and students at Budapest's University of Arts had initially mistaken the body for a modern sculpture.

The body hung for a whole day in a garden building that had been reopened — after being closed five years ago — before onlookers realized it was not one of the campus' many sculptures.

Copyright © 2003 The Seattle Times Company