Friday, August 10- August 24, 2007, #152 (1419)

Press Scanner

Headline: Shall we make a monument for Russians?
The political movement Imedi says the Georgian government is responsible for the August 6 missile incident near Tsitelubani, the newspaper Sakartvelos Respublika reports.

Imedi leader Irina Sarishvili held a press conference where she posed various questions about the incident, including how the Georgian government knew the missile was not going to detonate.

"The bomb fell on a built-up area. Had it exploded there would have been significant casualties. How could the Defense Ministry be so sure of this, I wonder?" Sarishvili declared.

She suggested that military activity such as this is used by the Georgian government to distract attention from other problems the country faces.

"But if Russian special forces did participate in this event then Saakashvili ought to build a monument in their honor, because they directly serve his interests," Irina Sarishvili declared.

Headline: Do opposition expect a boost from the majority?
When parliament is reformed in 2008, many members of the ruling party will be without seats Sakartvelos Respublika reports. The reform will see the number of seats in the house decrease from 235 to 150. The opposition have stated they cannot envisage big names from the ruling party joining them should they lose out in the party list reshuffle.

The opposition hope that even if the parties don't unite into a single bloc, they'll still manage organized collaboration.

However, it's doubtful all the opposition parties can find common ground. As time passes, the political stance of the Conservatives and Republicans differs more and more. It is currently impossible to unite the Labor and New Rights parties, the newspaper writes.

Headline: Kakha Kukava accuses Gigi Ugulava of swindling citizens
Conservative Party leadership blames Tbilisi Mayor Gigi Ugulava for the appropriation of private property, Akhali Taoba reports.

Kakha Kukava said that Tbilisi citizen Ramaz Ninua bought land at Nutsibidze #71 in a 2007 City Hall auction. According to Kukava, Tbilisi authorities are forbidding Ninua to build on the land, depriving him of his right to property ownership.

"If a citizen had a right to begin building in January he must have the same rights after seven months. We can only suppose that someone else was interested in this land," Kukava continued, accusing City Hall of plotting to hand over the property to someone else.

For actions like this, the Conservative Party representatives say, they're accusing Ugulava of swindling citizens. They've asked the Prosecutor General's office to investigate the case. His party has filed suit in court, said Kukava.

Headline: Georgian police seize contraband in conflict zone
Georgian police detained a car with Ossetian tags carrying huge amounts of contraband goods near the village of Kvatetri in the Znauri district of the South Ossetian conflict zone, Akhali Taoba reports.

Finance Ministry officials reportedly seized contraband caviar, perfumery, and other goods from the car, which was thought to be headed for Gori.

The driver of the car fled on foot after being approached by Georgian police. Authorities are working to determine the owner of the vehicle.

Kvatetri village is a kilometer away from South Ossetian de facto president Eduard Kokoity's separatist-controlled native village of Baktaan.


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