Prime Minister will Try to Broker Disarmament Deal
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| Zhvania visited Batumi on March 28 to oversee election process in the troubled region. |
“Illegal arms in Adjara become more and more alarming. Disarmament of illegal armed groups will top the agenda during the talks with the Adjarian leader,” Zurab Zhvania told reporters on April 12.
President Saakashvili, who described Adjara as “a barrel of gunpowder,” offered armed groups in the Autonomous Republic to surrender firearms in exchange of payment.
“If [Adjarian leader] Abashidze does not want to disarm his supporters, then we are ready to open special stations where Adjarians will be able to hand over fire arms, which was distributed by Abashidze, in exchange of money,” Mikheil Saakashvili told reporters on April 12.
Prime Minister Zurab Zhvania said on the eve of the talks that around million Lari (approximately $500,000) will be needed to pay for surrendering arms. He also said that several businessmen have already expressed readiness to provide funds for disarmament of Adjarians.
“The number of firearms, distributed in Adjara, exceeds 3,000. There are businessmen who are ready to assist the country in this process and provide financial assistance in order to ensure security in Adjara,” Zurab Zhvania said.
President Saakashvili said that this proposal does not refer to “heavy weaponry, which Abashidze owns.” “Abashidze should surrender these weapons without any condition,” Mikheil Saakashvili added. Earlier he said that Abashidze spent $50 million to arm his supporters.
However, Adjarian Finance Minister denied reports that the Autonomous Republic had allocated funds to buy arms.
President Saakashvili also said on the eve of Batumi talks that presence of large number of weapons in the region, whose sea resorts attract many Georgians in the summer, worsens security conditions.
“How can we let Georgians go to the region, which is a barrel of gunpowder, which might explode any time,” Saakashvili added.
Prime Minister Zurab Zhvania said that distribution of constitutional powers between the Autonomy and the central government will be another issue discussed during the talks. However, no particular document regarding the issue has been drafted so far.
In February, Secretary General of the Council of Europe (CoE) Walter Schwimmer proposed to draft the law that would define the powers of the autonomy and offered the CoE expertise. On April 12 Schwimmer’s representative in Georgia Plamen Nikolov held talks with Aslan Abashidze. Plamen Nikolov is also attending talks between Zhvania and Abashidze.
It is expected that Abashidze will push the issue of resumption of operations of the Batumi-based Maritime Bank.
The Maritime Bank’s licence was withdrawn after the Georgian Prosecutor General’s Office accused the bank of money laundering on behalf of the Adjarian leadership. Abashidze’s government used the Maritime Bank for all of its transactions.
Meanwhile, Adjarian opposition mounts pressure on Abashidze. The opposition activists collect the signatures of Adjarians calling for early elections to Autonomy’s legislative body – the Supreme Council.
“Our only demand is for Abashidze to resign and for the early elections to be held [in Adjara]. Even if Abashidze and Zhvania will reach an agreement, we will keep insisting on our demands, because Abashidze’s regime is illegal and he must resign,” Koba Khabazi, leader of the Our Adjara opposition movement told Civil Georgia on April 12.
President Saakashvili has already threatened to disband the Supreme Council – Adjara’s legislative body if Abashidze refuses to disarm his paramilitary forces.
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