Georgia reformer Kakha Bendukidze dies

TBILISI: Georgian statesman Kakha Bendukidze, the architect of the ex-Soviet republic's liberal economic reforms and fierce anti-corruption crusader, has died aged 58, former president Mikheil Saakashvili said on Friday.

"Georgia lost Kakha," Saakashvili wrote on his Facebook page. "I am shocked and horrified... A statesman of historic importance has passed away."

Bendukidze's colleague at Tbilisi's Free University, Vato Lezhava, told AFP Bendukidze had died suddenly while on a visit to London.