Leaking gas kills leader of Georgia

[Timo]

Leaking gas kills leader of Georgia
By Sebastian Smith in Tbilisi
By Sebastian Smith in Tbilisi A LEAKING gas heater was blamed for the death of Zurab Zhvania, Georgia’s Prime Minister, yesterday, robbing the youthful Government that took power in the “Rose Revolution” of its mastermind.

Officials insisted that Mr Zhvania, 41, died of carbon monoxide poisoning while visiting a friend, though they struggled to suppress the inevitable conspiracy theories in this turbulent Caucasus country.

NI_MPU('middle');Bodyguards found Mr Zhvania dead in an armchair at 4.30am at the Tbilisi apartment where he had apparently been playing backgammon with a fellow politician, whose body was discovered in the kitchen.

Mr Zhvania was considered the brains of the “Rose Revolution” which overthrew President Shevardnadze in late 2003, and a steadying influence over the young radicals, led by Mikhail Saakashvili, 37, who took over.

President Saakashvili, his voice cracking, described Mr Zhvania’s loss as a huge blow for the country: “I have lost my closest friend, my most loyal adviser, my biggest ally.” He called an emergency Cabinet session, starting with a moment of silence, and has seven days to name a new prime minister.

Hours after the news, Mr Shevardnadze called Mr Zhvania Georgia’s “greatest state figure, a brilliant person”.

An initial police examination of Mr Zhvania’s body found no evidence of foul play, though tissue samples will be sent to the FBI in America for testing. Gas poisoning is relatively common in Georgia, where power supplies are erratic and people run heaters off gas canisters.

Ordinary Georgians immediately suspected foul play, citing Mr Zhvania’s sometimes difficult relations with Mr Saakashvili, his involvement in attempts to resolve the separatist conflict in South Ossetia, and his role in a recent wave of privatisation deals. Since independence from the Soviet Union, Georgians have seen civil war, two separatist conflicts, the mysterious death of Zviad Gamsakhurdia, their first president, and several assassination attempts against President Shevardnadze. One politician, Amiran Shalamberidge, fuelled the conspiracy theories by talking of “interference from outside forces”, a reference to Moscow that the Russian Foreign Ministry rejected. President Putin sent a letter of condolence.

First the Ukranian, Victor Yushchenko, running for president gets poisoned by massive exposure to dioxins, and now the Georgian leader is killed by gas. What the heck is going on in Ex-Soviet Countries that the leaders are being targeted for assasination. I think this geogian deal is dirty and smells like someone took him out. Is the KGB (now called FSB) targeting would-be enemies and eliminating them (or trying to in the case of Victor Yushchenko)? Putin is, after all, ex-KGB. Anyone got theories or explainations?