Thousands took to the streets of the Georgian capital Tbilisi Saturday to protest the violent end of a five-day opposition rally in which 90 people were arrested this week. The protesters marched towards the parliament building, blocking traffic along Tbilisi's main thoroughfare, Rustaveli Avenue.
Supporters of ex-parliament speaker Nino Burjanadze rallied for five days demanding the resignation of Western-backed President Mikheil Saakashvili and vowing to stop a military parade marking the ex-Soviet state's independence from Russia. Riot police broke up the protest on Thursday morning using tear gas and rubber bullets after the opposition rejected the government's offer to move their demonstration to an alternative location.
Saakashvili was swept to power during the peaceful Rose Revolution of 2003, vowing to tackle corruption and win Georgia's membership in Nato. Despite suffering a humiliating defeat in a 2008 war with arch-foe Russia in which Georgia lost two republics, Saakashvili has remained the country's most popular politician, with opposition splintered and enjoying little support.
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