Armen Posted February 3, 2005 Report Share Posted February 3, 2005 Apparent Gas Leak Kills Georgian Premier Associated Press February 4, 2005 By MISHA DZHINDZHIKHASHVILI, Associated Press Writer TBILISI, Georgia - Georgian Prime Minister Zurab Zhvania, who helped lead the revolution that toppled the corruption-tainted regime of Eduard Shevardnadze, was killed Thursday by an apparent natural gas leak, the ex-Soviet republic's interior minister said. Zhvania, 41, was at a friend's apartment when the leak occurred, Interior Minister Vano Merabishvili said in a live television broadcast. "It is an accident," Merabishvili said. "We can say that poisoning by gas took place." Security guards broke through a window early Thursday when they heard no signs of life inside the apartment several hours after the prime minister arrived, Merabishvili said. Zhvania's host, Zurab Usupov, deputy governor of Georgia's Kvemo-Kartli region, also died. An Iranian-made gas-powered heating stove was in the main room of the mezzanine-floor apartment, where a table was set up with a backgammon set lying open. Zhvania was in a chair; Usupov's body was found in the kitchen. Security guards tried unsuccessfully to resuscitate the prime minister, Merabishvili said. "It all happened suddenly," he said. Central heating is scarce in Georgia, and many people use gas or wood stoves in their homes. President Mikhail Saakashvili convened an emergency Cabinet meeting following Zhavania's death. It began with a moment of silence. "In Zurab Zhvania, Georgia has lost a great patriot, who devoted his entire life to serving the motherland. Zurab's death is a great blow to Georgia and to me personally. I lost a very close friend, a reliable adviser and a great ally," Saakashvili said. Russian President Vladimir Putin (news - web sites) sent a telegram of condolence to Saakashvili, which said that Zhvania "was well known in Russia as a supporter of the development of friendly, good-neighborly relations between the Russian and Georgian peoples." A longtime politician, Zhvania was part of the opposition to former Georgian President Eduard Shevardnadze and played a prominent role in protests that led to Shevardnadze's ouster after allegedly fraudulent elections in November 2003. Saakashvili, who led the protests, named Zhvania prime minister following his landslide election in January 2004. Zhvania was considered a moderate to counterbalance the more impetuous president, and he was one of the key government figures trying to negotiate settlements with Georgia's separatist regions. Zhvania was born in the capital Tbilisi on Dec. 9, 1963. A graduate of the biology department at Tbilisi State University, he led the Green of Georgia party in 1988-93 and served in the parliament beginning in 1992. He became parliamentary speaker in 1995 and led the moderate United Democrats opposition party, and for several years he and Saakashvili were rivals for leadership of the opposition. Like Saakashvili, Zhvania was a one-time ally of Shevardnadze. After breaking with Shevardnadze, however, Zhvania followed a more conciliatory path than Saakashvili, and he was considered a more moderate politician who sought consensus rather than conflict. Zhvania is survived by his wife and three children. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
MosJan Posted February 3, 2005 Report Share Posted February 3, 2005 "Iranian-made gas-powered heating stove was" this is what H1 Tv was saying also and Voskanyan was on his way to Tibilisi to see Zhvania for 2 days Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Armen Posted February 3, 2005 Author Report Share Posted February 3, 2005 The Eurasia Daily Monitor Jamestown Foundation. DEATH OF GEORGIA'S PRIME MINISTER ZHVANIA RAISES QUESTIONS The sudden death of Georgian Prime Minister Zurab Zhvania last night (February 2) has plunged the country into shock. The news of Zhvania's death comes on the heels of the car bomb that exploded in Gori two days ago, killing at least a dozen people. Official reports say Zhvania's death was accidental, the result of a faulty gas heater. Briefing the press today, Minister of Police and Public Order Vano Merabishvili reported that around midnight Zhvania had arrived at the apartment of his friend Raul Usupov, the deputy governor of Kvemo Kartli, in eastern Georgia. When Zhvania did not respond to telephone calls for several hours, his security detail began to worry. At 4:30 am, they broke their way into the apartment, where they found the bodies of Zhvania and Usupov. Merabishvili said the preliminary investigation has concluded that Zhvania and Usupov died from gas escaping from a cheap Iranian-made gas heater; the appliance is widely used throughout Tbilisi. "This is an accident," he declared. "I visited the site of the accident personally." Currently, specialists are inspecting the gas heater in Usupov's flat, while forensic experts are examining Zhvania and Usupov's corpses (Interpress, TV Rustavi-2, February 3). Meanwhile, some Russian news agencies, drawing on their own sources in Georgia, are reporting that Zhvania and Usupov were gunned down and their bodies reportedly bear evidence of gunshot wounds (utro.ru, February 3). Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili convened an emergency meeting of the government. "I have lost a closest friend, reliable advisor, and great ally," Saakashvili said. He called on the population of Georgia to not succumb to panic and to "keep their wool on." Parliamentary speaker Nino Burjanadze has cancelled her scheduled trip to Italy and is returning to Tbilisi. The 41-year-old Zhvania was one of the three leaders of Georgia's November 2003 Rose Revolution, which removed long-time Georgian strongman Eduard Shevardnadze from power. Upon his election as president in early 2004, Saakashvili initiated changes to the Georgian Constitution, according to analysts, to secure the post of prime minister for Zhvania, which he duly assumed in February 2004. Zhvania, although considered to be Saakashvili's comrade-in-arms, has always cultivated his image as an independent player and a prominent liberal politician able to adapt to the rapidly changing political scene in Georgia. He was a leader of the United Democrats political party, which merged with the Saakashvili-led National Movement last year. Despite the merger and publicly demonstrated political partnership between Saakashvili and Zhvania, local analysts fully believed the two men would eventually go their separate ways. Analysts regarded the recent squabbles in the government between their proteges (EDM, December 13 and 15, 2004, January 11) as a reflection of a backstage power struggle between Zhvania and Saakashvili. In recent weeks Zhvania had endured harsh criticism in connection with the controversial, Russian-dominated privatization of several key Georgian economic enterprises (see EDM, February 1) Russian President Vladimir Putin has sent a letter of condolence to Saakashvili reading, "Zurab Zhvania was well-known in Russia as a supporter of friendly and good-neighbor relations between Georgia and Russia." Zhvania's death will likely cause significant political problems. According to Georgian law, in the event of the death of a prime minister, then the president must dissolve the government immediately. Without Zhvania, his followers in the parliament and in the government will inevitably lose some of their influence. --Zaal Anjaparidze Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
kakachik77 Posted February 3, 2005 Report Share Posted February 3, 2005 He was half-Armenian. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hytga Posted February 3, 2005 Report Share Posted February 3, 2005 it probably was a setup or something. i really doubt it was an accident. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Harut Posted February 3, 2005 Report Share Posted February 3, 2005 who's next accident vicmit? Burjanadze? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Armen Posted February 4, 2005 Author Report Share Posted February 4, 2005 Revolution always "eats" its children. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gamavor Posted February 4, 2005 Report Share Posted February 4, 2005 ...or Sahakian / pardon Saakashvili Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
gamavor Posted February 4, 2005 Report Share Posted February 4, 2005 Whoever said that Armenian surnames are dificult should be shot dead! If anyone can pronounce the Georgian journalist surname at once, I will buy him/her a drink! MISHA DZHINDZHIKHASHVILI Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
hytga Posted February 4, 2005 Report Share Posted February 4, 2005 (edited) loooooool this one belongs in humor section (i mean gamavors last post) Edited February 4, 2005 by hytga Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Armen Posted February 4, 2005 Author Report Share Posted February 4, 2005 Aide to dead Georgian PM commits suicide: official AFP 05/02/2005 03:12 TBILISI, Feb 4 (AFP) - An aide to Georgian prime minister Zurab Zhvania, who died apparently after breathing toxic fumes leaked by a faulty heater, committed suicide late Friday, an interior ministry spokesman said. The aide, 32-year-old Georgi Khelashvili, shot himself with a gun in his Tbilisi apartment, the spokesman said. Khelashvili was a member of Zhavania's staff, working with the pardons commission, the Mze television channel reported. It was not yet clear whether Khelashvili's suicide was linked to Zhvania's death. Zhvania, Georgia's widely respected prime minister seen as the driving force behind market-oriented economic reform in the restive Caucasus republic, died early Thursday. The 41-year-old prime minister was found by his bodyguards slumped over a table in an apartment on the outskirts of Tbilisi, and appeared to have succumbed to inadequately ventilated carbon monoxide fumes from a heater. The body of another local Georgian official, Raul Yusupov, was found dead on the floor in another room in the apartment. There were no signs of foul play, and officials quickly quashed suspicions that the deaths could have been anything but accidental. News of Zhvania's death sent shock waves through Georgia and President Mikhail Saakashvili, acting in line with the constitution, dismissed the entire Zhvania government, though its members were to remain in place on what is technically an interim basis pending confirmation of a new government. Saakashvili announced that he would take over Zhvania's duties until a new government was installed. He was expected to name a new prime minister before February 10. Zhvania was a father of three, who entered political life as an ally of veteran Georgian president Eduard Shevardnadze but later switched his allegiance to Saakashvili, becoming himself a leading figure in the 2003 "rose revolution" that ousted Shevardnadze and swept the US-educated Saakashvili to power. His appointment last year as prime minister was a power-sharing arrangement that placed chief responsibility for introducing sweeping economic reforms in Georgia with the prime minister. Analysts said the reform process would be slowed as a result of Zhvania's death. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
DominO123 Posted February 4, 2005 Report Share Posted February 4, 2005 Whoever said that Armenian surnames are dificult should be shot dead! If anyone can pronounce the Georgian journalist surname at once, I will buy him/her a drink! MISHA DZHINDZHIKHASHVILI style_images/master/snapback.png I just did, you own me a drink. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Armen Posted February 8, 2005 Author Report Share Posted February 8, 2005 CIVIL SOCIETY GEORGIA: MANY QUESTIONS REMAIN UNANSWERED IN ZHVANIA’S DEATH Molly Corso 2/07/05 http://www.eurasianet.org/departments/civi...eav020705.shtml Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skhara Posted February 9, 2005 Report Share Posted February 9, 2005 Whoever said that Armenian surnames are dificult should be shot dead! If anyone can pronounce the Georgian journalist surname at once, I will buy him/her a drink! MISHA DZHINDZHIKHASHVILI style_images/master/snapback.png Do you mean on the first try try, or just at once? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Armen Posted February 9, 2005 Author Report Share Posted February 9, 2005 As always, Gamavor has introduced a whole new dimension to another thread Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skhara Posted February 9, 2005 Report Share Posted February 9, 2005 (edited) As always, Gamavor has introduced a whole new dimension to another thread style_images/master/snapback.png Well, I'm excpecting my drink now. Gamavor, next time i'm in Huston (which is never), i'll stop by the local tavern. But seriously, its easy if you divide it into the syllables. its like jinji - and then: khhhhhhhhhhhhhhhhash and then villi so: jinji --- khhhhhhhhhhash - villi Edited February 9, 2005 by skhara Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Armen Posted February 9, 2005 Author Report Share Posted February 9, 2005 Well, I'm excpecting my drink now. Gamavor, next time i'm in Huston (which is never), i'll stop by the local tavern. style_images/master/snapback.png Skhara, Texas is a BIG. Only recently a Texan asked me: Texan: Where are you from? Me: Armenia Texan: What part of Texas is that? So, never say never ... Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
skhara Posted February 9, 2005 Report Share Posted February 9, 2005 Texas? What part of the USA is that? United States of Armenia Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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