.Georgia's opposition conducts huge rally
TBILISI, Georgia (AP) - Tens of thousands of demonstrators filled the national sports stadium in Georgia's capital on Tuesday to press their demands that President Mikhail Saakashvili step down.
The demonstrators, about 60,000 strong, then marched to the main cathedral to consult with the respected leader of Georgia's Orthodox Church on how to proceed in the political standoff now in its seventh week.
Opposition leaders chose a patriotic national holiday for the mass rally, seeking to reinvigorate the protests they have been conducting almost daily in Tbilisi since April 9.
"Today the Georgian people have shown to the world and to themselves that they're ready to struggle to the very end," Nino Burdzhanadze, the highest-profile opposition politician, told the crowd.
"You have frightened those who want to frighten you," she said to deafening cheers.
The demonstrators are angry with Saakashvili for leading Georgia into a disastrous war against Russia last year, in which Georgia lost territory, saw its military crushed and towns destroyed and was temporarily occupied by Russian troops. The protesters also accuse Saakashvili of becoming more authoritarian.
While the president still has a broad base of support in the former Soviet republic - which has experienced significant economic growth during his five years in office - opposition leaders hoped Tuesday's emotional demonstration would prove to be a tipping point.
Saakashvili has remained defiant, saying he would stay through his second term, which ends in 2013.
Tuesday's rally would have coincided with the annual military parade celebrating Georgia's short-lived independence before it was taken over by the Soviet army in 1921. After decades of Soviet rule, independence was restored in 1991.
But the government canceled the parade, fearing clashes with the opposition.
No police were visible inside or outside the stadium at any point during Tuesday's rally.
Waving red-and-white Georgian flags, the demonstrators in the stadium cheered, sang the national anthem and burst into chants of "Sakartvelo! Sakartvelo!" - the name of the country in Georgian.
In a sign of the high-running emotions, Giorgy Gachechiladze - a famous singer and opposition figure - ran onto the soccer field and kneeled down in the center of a giant Georgian flag, pumping his fists.
Following the rally, Patriarch Ilia II was to address the crowd, which came to his cathedral.
Opposition supporters poured in from around the country, with some arriving in long convoys of cars. Overnight, hundreds of demonstrators carrying flags marched into Tbilisi in a torch-lit parade.
Saakashvili has offered to hold talks with opposition leaders on constitutional changes, but they have rejected the offer, saying they were only prepared to discuss his resignation.
For his part, Saakashvili gave a speech to young schoolchildren in Tbilisi and attended a memorial ceremony Tuesday honoring soldiers killed in last August's war. He also planned to visit the Black Sea city of Batumi, where he was to open a new street and visit local businesses.
MyWay
The demonstrators, about 60,000 strong, then marched to the main cathedral to consult with the respected leader of Georgia's Orthodox Church on how to proceed in the political standoff now in its seventh week.
Opposition leaders chose a patriotic national holiday for the mass rally, seeking to reinvigorate the protests they have been conducting almost daily in Tbilisi since April 9.
"Today the Georgian people have shown to the world and to themselves that they're ready to struggle to the very end," Nino Burdzhanadze, the highest-profile opposition politician, told the crowd.
"You have frightened those who want to frighten you," she said to deafening cheers.
The demonstrators are angry with Saakashvili for leading Georgia into a disastrous war against Russia last year, in which Georgia lost territory, saw its military crushed and towns destroyed and was temporarily occupied by Russian troops. The protesters also accuse Saakashvili of becoming more authoritarian.
While the president still has a broad base of support in the former Soviet republic - which has experienced significant economic growth during his five years in office - opposition leaders hoped Tuesday's emotional demonstration would prove to be a tipping point.
Saakashvili has remained defiant, saying he would stay through his second term, which ends in 2013.
Tuesday's rally would have coincided with the annual military parade celebrating Georgia's short-lived independence before it was taken over by the Soviet army in 1921. After decades of Soviet rule, independence was restored in 1991.
But the government canceled the parade, fearing clashes with the opposition.
No police were visible inside or outside the stadium at any point during Tuesday's rally.
Waving red-and-white Georgian flags, the demonstrators in the stadium cheered, sang the national anthem and burst into chants of "Sakartvelo! Sakartvelo!" - the name of the country in Georgian.
In a sign of the high-running emotions, Giorgy Gachechiladze - a famous singer and opposition figure - ran onto the soccer field and kneeled down in the center of a giant Georgian flag, pumping his fists.
Following the rally, Patriarch Ilia II was to address the crowd, which came to his cathedral.
Opposition supporters poured in from around the country, with some arriving in long convoys of cars. Overnight, hundreds of demonstrators carrying flags marched into Tbilisi in a torch-lit parade.
Saakashvili has offered to hold talks with opposition leaders on constitutional changes, but they have rejected the offer, saying they were only prepared to discuss his resignation.
For his part, Saakashvili gave a speech to young schoolchildren in Tbilisi and attended a memorial ceremony Tuesday honoring soldiers killed in last August's war. He also planned to visit the Black Sea city of Batumi, where he was to open a new street and visit local businesses.
MyWay
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