A businessman from the rebellious Georgian region of Ajaria has pledged his support for Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili in Tbilisi. Aleksandre Davitadze is said to have been close to Ajarian leader Aslan Abashidze, and to have financed an armed militia, before switching sides.
| I'd guess Abashidze stock is at a 52-week low... |
Georgia and Ajaria stood on the brink of conflict after Mr Saakashvili was denied entry into Ajaria last month. Mr Davitadze is the latest of a number of Ajarians to defect in recent weeks. Local media reports described him as a prominent businessman who had controlled a group of 300 or 400 armed men since 1992.
| They mean he's a warlord... |
Mr Saakashvili was shown on television welcoming him to Tbilisi. "I simply want Ajarians to see that such a man is here now," he said. "I also want to say that virtually all the main armed units are now on this side of Choloki (a point on the administrative border between Ajaria and the rest of Georgia)." Mr Davitadze was quoted by the Itar-Tass news agency as saying that most Ajarians supported the Georgian central authorities. The head of Ajaria's environmental police agency, Colonel Anzor Dumbadze, was also reported to have arrived in Tbilisi on Saturday, after switching sides. Tass said about 50 members of the Ajarian security forces had left the region before the end of April. Mr Saakashvili stressed at his meeting with Mr Davitadze that only Ajarians who had committed treason, used arms against Georgia, or attacked opposition rallies, would be prosecuted. Mr Abashidze says the government in Tbilisi wants to oust him.
| Sounds like they're going about it pretty well, too... |
For his part, Mr Saakashvili has alleged that Mr Abashidze is planning to bring in mercenaries from Chechnya and Ukraine to fight on his side. Correspondents say Mr Abashidze runs Ajaria as his private fiefdom.
| Actually, that's true even if correspondents do say it... |
He has never allowed any opposition, but after the revolution in November which brought Mr Saakashvili to power in Tbilisi, a pro-Saakashvili opposition movement also emerged in the province. |