18 March 2004, 10:14
Our Adjaria to fight against Aslan Abashidze till "victorious end"
Our Adjaria, a coalition of 20 political parties and NGOs opposed to Aslan Abashidze, will achieve the full ouster of the Adjarian leader in the end, Guram Saladze, a lawyer and activist in the coalition, vowed in an interview with a Rosbalt correspondent.
"We have a splendid president who is heart and soul with his people," Saladze asserted. "Mikhail Saakashvili has a very good chance of destroying Aslan Abashidze and his entourage, but he is trying to settle the problem by peaceful means."
According to Saladze, Our Adjaria has at least 80,000 supporters in the autonomy, and that they are seeking free, democratic elections. "If Aslan Abashidze doesn't comply with the just demands put forward by Mikhail Saakashvili, we ourselves will set things right. If he doesn't pull his military formations out of Choloki, we also will take up arms and take hostage the families of those who back Aslan," Saladze said. He also said no more than 150 Abashidze backers were known to be at the Choloki border crossing point.
"He must leave or we will clear him off," Saladze declared. But he said, "No one wants bloodshed." He expressed hope that "Russia would maintain neutrality, and we will decide the Abashidze question on our own."
Source: Rosbalt News Agency
