GEORGIA:GEORGIA'S OPPOSITION has called for an independent investigation into the origins of the war with Russia in August, amid growing discontent inside the country with President Mikheil Saakashvili and demands that he resign.
The country's opposition parties refrained from criticising Mr Saakashvili during the conflict, but two months on, with Russian troops due to pull out this week from the so-called buffer zones next to the breakaway republics of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, they are demanding an urgent debate on the origins of the conflict.
Georgia's normally divided opposition - which now includes a formidable member in the former head of parliament Nino Burjanadze - wants Mr Saakashvili to resign and is calling for early elections to parliament in spring 2009. It claims Moscow provoked the situation, but that Mr Saakashvili made the "disastrous" mistake of attacking South Ossetia on August 7th, prompting Russia to invade.
The president insists his decision to send in tanks was a response to a Russian advance. His critics say the war with Russia was a "total national disaster" and avoidable.
"Saakashvili made a tragic mistake. For some reason he had to demonstrate to the rest of the world how bad the Russians were," said David Usupashvili of the opposition Republican party.
The result of the five-day war was the loss of South Ossetia and Abkhazia - now recognised by Moscow as independent - as well as other territory Georgia previously held. Around 1,000 people died on both sides, with 130,000 Georgians left homeless.
"The result was entirely foreseeable," said Salome Zurabishvili, Georgia's former foreign minister, and another disillusioned ex-member of Mr Saakashvili's inner circle. Ms Zurabishvili said that the West bore a share of responsibility for failing to recognise the non-democratic nature of Mr Saakashvili's regime.
"The US administration made a mistake. Instead of supporting institutions, it supported people," she said. "They thought it is better to have someone you can trust, who will do whatever you want." She warned: "Whatever happened in August might happen again. It was the direct result of not being a democratic country." She said she had been mistaken about Mr Saakashvili being a democrat. "It's not surprising that the outside world was fooled."
Mr Saakashvili says he is prepared to answer questions about his role in the conflict.
Russia accused Georgia yesterday of trying to sabotage its ceasefire by mounting a series of violent attacks on Russian targets across the region, but Tbilisi said the allegation was baseless. In the latest violence the separatist Abkhazia region said one of its border guards was killed in a gunfight with Georgian police. - (Guardian service)