November 16, 2007	Friday	Ziqa’ad 05, 1428

TBILISI, Nov 15: Georgian lawmakers voted on Thursday to lift a state of emergency imposed after violent clashes last week, as Moscow dismissed claims of Russian interference as “fantasies” worthy of a James Bond novel.

Lawmakers approved a presidential decree lifting the state of emergency on Friday at 7:00 pm (1500 GMT), a spokesman for parliament said.

The resolution passed by a vote of 153 to two.

Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili imposed emergency rule, which banned demonstrations and independent news broadcasts, after police clashed with thousands of anti-government protesters on Nov 7.

It had been approved by parliament for up to 15 days.

Saakashvili said the unrest was part of an attempt masterminded by Russia to overthrow his strongly pro-Western government and ordered the expulsion of three Russian diplomats.

The Russian foreign ministry ridiculed his claims in a statement on Thursday.

Saakashvili “is in his own virtual world where nothing prevents him from inventing the most terrible threats and dangers in order to fight them heroically,” the statement said.

“Such fantasies in the spirit of (James Bond creator) Ian Fleming would not deserve comment were it not for the maniacal attempt to involve Georgian society in them,” the statement said.

Moscow also described Saakashvili’s decision after the unrest to call a snap parliamentary poll for Jan 5 as a farce.

“The impression that the snap elections have been thought up as an obvious farce intended to keep power in the hands of the current leadership has been confirmed,” the ministry statement said.

“The date of the elections was set in such a way that in such a short period of time the opposition would not be able to unite and society would not be able to overcome fear after the brutal crackdown on the protests,” it said.

Saakashvili, who came to power after the peaceful 2003 Rose Revolution, came under a barrage of criticism from the United States and EU countries for the police crackdown and imposition of emergency rule.

Despite the decision to lift the state of emergency, doubts remained about whether one of the country’s main television channels would be allowed back on the air.

Imedi television, a channel widely seen as backing Georgia’s opposition, was shut down following the unrest.

Rupert Murdoch’s News Corp., which controls Imedi, said on Wednesday it had been informed that the channel’s license had been suspended and that all its equipment had been seized. News Corp. said it planned the appeal the decision.

Georgian authorities have said they are investigating whether Imedi and News Corp.’s Georgian partner, businessman Badri Patarkatsishvili, were inciting protesters to violently overthrow the government. News Corporation has dismissed the allegation as “ludicrous.”

On Monday, the coalition of opposition parties that led the anti-government protests announced that almost all of its members would support prominent businessman Levan Gachechiladze as Saakashvili’s challenger in the presidential poll.

Opposition leaders said Gachechiladze would run on a mandate of abolishing the presidency and handing executive power to a parliamentary government.

Gachechiladze said in an interview with Russian newspaper Komsomolskaya Pravda on Thursday that he would put Saakashvili on trial if elected.

“I will establish a free court which will decide his future,” he said, describing Saakashvili as too “weak” and “scared” to handle the presidency.—AFP