Georgians mourn Prime Minister amid probe
(Agencies)
Updated: 2005-02-06 09:53

Mourners streamed into a cramped living room where Prime Minister Zurab Zhvania's body lay in a coffin Saturday, two days after the man widely credited as one of the country's most honorable politicians was found dead.

Zhvania's death was officially attributed to carbon-monoxide poisoning from an improperly ventilated gas space heater at the apartment of a friend who also died. Though such deaths are not uncommon in Georgia, where central heating systems went out of service a decade ago amid the post-Soviet economic collapse, doubts continued to swirl among Georgians.

Georgians pay tribute to late Prime Minister Zurab Zhvania as they pass his coffin with his body covered by a Georgian flag in the Holy Trinity cathedral in Tbilisi, Georgia, late Saturday, Feb. 5, 2005.[AP]

Georgia has a history of political intrigue that sometimes turns violent and the climate of mistrust of officials is strong.

Reports linking a government official who committed suicide Friday to Zhvania's political party added to the air of suspicion. Officials later said the man had no ties to Zhvania and apparently had been confused with another man who had the same name.

Georgy Khelashvili, a member of the presidential clemency commission, died Friday night in what police said was a suicide by gunshot. Otar Khotidze, head of the clemency division, said Zhvania had no connection to the commission and that Zhvania made no applications for pardons of any prisoners.

Georgians carry the coffin with the body of their late Prime Minister Zurab Zhvania to the Holy Trinity cathedral Tbilisi, late Saturday, Feb. 5, 2005.[AP]

Authorities on Saturday released no new details about the circumstances of Zhvania's death.

"Who knows? Maybe in a couple of weeks we'll know what happened," said mourner Saza Todashvili, who said he and Zhvania studied biology together at Tbilisi University in the 1980s. "He was one of the smartest, very erudite," Todashvili said.

Zhvania's body, covered with a white cloth bearing Orthodox church inscriptions, lay in a coffin in the center of his mother Rima's small living room.

The 41-year-old Zhvania was a key figure in attempts to lift the country out of its economic and political turmoil. He also was one of the leaders of the 2003 "Rose Revolution" protests that propelled President Mikhail Saakashvili to power and brought down his predecessor, Eduard Shevardnadze.

Maia Nikoleishvili, an independent forensics expert, told The Associated Press that officials had stated the cause of death more quickly than would be appropriate, just hours after the bodies were found.

"It's hard for me to take (the rumors) seriously, but I can't dismiss them," said Davit Usupashvili, a political analyst who was among the mourners.

Another mourner, Bishop Malkha Somgulashvili of the Evangelical Baptist Church of Georgia, said Zhvania had done much to promote the rights of religious groups in a country where only the Georgian Orthodox Church has official standing.

"Minority religious groups ... felt comfortable with him," he said.

Zhvania's initiatives as premier included working to seek negotiated settlements to the separatist tensions in South Ossetia and Abkhazia.

The body was to be moved Saturday night to Tbilisi's Holy Trinity Cathedral, where a public requiem was to be held Sunday ahead of a state funeral later in the day.

Close

Today's Top News     Top World News
China sets no timetable on currency change         China could be world's No. 3 auto producer         All 104 aboard Afghan jet believed dead         Direct flights a hit with New Year passengers         China to attract more foreign experts: Premier         Nine dead in Japan, apparent group suicide	All 104 aboard Afghan jet believed dead       Attacks kill 3 US troops, 33 Iraqis       Call made from phone of abducted Italian in Iraq       Solana: Military strike on Iran would be a 'mistake'       Five terror suspects surrender in Kuwait       Nine dead in Japan, apparent group suicide