November 12, 2003	Wednesday	Ramazan 16, 1424

TBILISI, Nov 11: Several hundred protesters camped outside Georgia’s parliament for the fourth consecutive day on Tuesday as Eduard Shevardnadze signalled a tougher line on demonstrators calling for the president of the former Soviet republic to resign.

The protests were sparked by a Nov 2 parliamentary election that several opposition parties said was rigged by the government. They have snowballed into the biggest demonstrations seen since Mr Shevardnadze came to power a decade ago.

But Eduard Shevardnadze, in an interview on television on Monday, said he would not give in to the protesters’ ultimatums, and hinted that his patience with them was wearing thin.—AFP