Georgia interior minister says Prime Minister Zurab Zhvania found dead af

[dethl]

Breaking news on http://www.cnn.com

Georgia interior minister says Prime Minister Zurab Zhvania found dead after apparent gas leak, wire services report. Details soon.

(This is my first time to post LBN, I hope I did it correctly, if not, delete or move to appropriate forum)

EDIT: Fixed link to cnn.com

[Dookus]

1. well your link

doesn't work. It's at www.cnn.com

[dethl]

2. Thanks

Haven't done hyperlinking much on the forums yet. Its fixed.

[MisterP]

3. Pres. Saakashvili is a Thatcherite, I believe

wonder where this will go. Azerbaijan? Kissinger and Fiends have their fingers in that pie, too

[underthedome]

4. From Russia With Love nt*

nt*

[cal04]

5. Georgian Prime Minister Killed in 'Gas Leak'

Interior Minister Vano Merabishvili said in a live broadcast on Rustavi-2 television that Zhvania had been at a friend’s house when the accident occurred.

Security guards broke down a door early today when they heard no sign of life inside the home several hours after the prime minister arrived

http://news.scotsman.com/latest.cfm?id=4084132

[Rose Siding]

13. More details- Two died

snip>
Zurab Zhvania was at a friend's home when he died. He had gone to the flat at around midnight (8pm GMT) and security guards broke into the apartment at some time after 4am when they realised they could hear no signs of life.

Inside they found Mr Zhvania slumped in a chair, and the body of his host, Zurab Usupov, the deputy governor of Georgia's Kvemo-Kartli region, in the kitchen. The guards tried unsuccessfully to resuscitate Mr Zhvania, according to the country's interior minister, who made a live broadcast on television.

Vano Merabishvili insisted in the broadcast that there were no signs of foul play. A gas-powered heating stove was found in the main room of the apartment, next to a table with a backgammon set lying open upon it. Central heating is rare in Georgia, and many people use gas or wood stoves in their homes. "It was an accident," Mr Merabishvili said. "We can say that poisoning by gas took place ... It all happened suddenly."

Mr Zhvania, 41, was part of the opposition to the former Georgian President Eduard Shevardnadze. He played a prominent role in protests that ousted the former president after allegedly fraudulent elections in November 2003. The current president, Mikhail Saakashvili, who led the protests, appointed Mr Zhvania following his landslide election in January 2004. The prime minister was considered a moderate counterbalance to the more impetuous president, and was trying to negotiate settlements with Georgia's separatist regions. Like President Saakashvili, Mr Zhvania was a one-time ally of Mr Shevardnadze. The president convened an emergency cabinet meeting this morning, which 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," he said. "I lost a very close friend, a reliable adviser and a great ally.

http://www.guardian.co.uk/georgia/story/0,14065,1404795,00.html

[cosmicdot]

19. wonder what signs of life they expected at 4 a.m.?

just wondering out loud

[nadinbrzezinski]

6. hmmm

curious, very curious

[lovuian]

7. He was not a favorite of Putins thats for sure How convenient

this gets so ugly!!!

[makhno]

16. The opposite is true

He was a proponent of dialog with Russia, unlike Saakashvili and his backers in DC. But let me not get in the way of a good DU Russia-bash.

[daleo]

8. Expect more mysterious deaths and assassinations

Poisonings, gas leaks, plane crashes...it has gotten like the latter stages of the Roman Empire (with updated technology) lately.

[aquart]

9. Gas leak?

Prime ministers do not die of gas leaks.

[daleo]

10. The leak may have gotten some help. n/t

[radwriter0555]

11. Ah. the old "Gas leak" scene. Works every time.

Looks like the CIA ops are now training the eastern factions.

Well DONE fellas!

[Rose Siding]

12. Always more plausible than the garage door malfunction

[Monkie]

14. they even manage to blame iran for this!

David Morchiladze, the general director of Tbilgaz - the company supplying gas to Tbilisi - said there was an Iranian-made heater installed in the flat which broke safety regulations.

http://news.bbc.co.uk/2/hi/europe/4231653.stm

[Kool Kitty]

15. OMG-

furnaces of mass destruction! Where will this madness end?

[gristy]

17. "gas leak" , huh?

Fat chance.

[DrWeird]

18. This can't be good.

nt

[Moderator]

20. kick

..

[True_Blue]

21. Georgian prime minister found dead from gas leak

TBILISI, Georgia - Georgian Prime Minister Zurab Zhvania was found dead Thursday following an apparent gas leak from a heater, dealing a blow to the young government's efforts to wipe out corruption and resolve two simmering separatist conflicts in the former Soviet republic.

Authorities played down any hint of foul play, but many Georgians were skeptical, given the impoverished country's history of often violent political intrigue. One lawmaker linked Zhvania's death and a car bombing in a town west of the capital two days earlier, and hinted at Russian involvement.

Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili was visibly shaken by the death of the 41-year-old Zhvania, who played a key role in the "Rose Revolution" that brought the leader to power a little more than a year ago.

Hundreds of Tbilisi residents, many with tears in their eyes, gathered outside the home of Zhvania's mother to watch his wooden coffin carried inside.
more....
http://www.azcentral.com/arizonarepublic/news/articles/0204georgia04.html

[Psephos]

22. As Gomer Pyle would say, "Surprise, surprise, surprise!"

[rayofreason]

23. Russia?

My Georgian friends suspect Russia; they say Putin is sliding back to his KGB ways.

[makhno]

24. For chrissakes

The dead guy was a proponent of rapprochement with Russia! Not everyone who dies in the FSU is the victim of KGB malfeasance.

I can't believe I'm turning into some kind of Putin apologist on this board, but this is really too much.

[Psephos]

25. Not by Russians, but Georgians who don't want rapprochement

A speculation without a shred of evidence, I might add...but one with plenty of historical precedent.

(BTW, KGB is no more. Its successor is FSB. Not that the name change has meant all that much.)

[makhno]

26. That was my thought as well

My understanding is that he was a pretty respected leader, but one that didn't necessarily agree with Saakashvili's position on relations with Russia.

And, yes, you're of course right about the FSB. Along with a myriad splinter agencies - the shakier the democracy, the more security ministries it needs.

[merwin]

27. dupe

http://www.democraticunderground.com/discuss/duboard.php?az=show_topic&forum=102&topic_id=1207943

[UL_Approved]

28. Other article link doesn't work

This is another news outlet with the same topic. Corroboration, not dupe.

And the other link doesn't go to the article directly.