"We will not shoot at our own people, we do not need another bloodshed," Georgian President pointed out. "All we want is that Georgia become a strong and united country," the head of the Georgian state said, calling for patience and common sense.
According to News-Georgia information agency, Saakashvili made this statement on Sunday afternoon when he again arrived at checkpoint near the Choloki river where his convoy had been barred from entering Adzharia earlier in the day. He spoke with the people who gathered around the checkpoint.
The people taking part in the rally were chanting `Mshvidoba` (peace), the Rustavi-2 TV channel reported.
Following his visit to the checkpoint, the Georgian President returned to Poti where he plans to hold an extraordinary session of the country's Government for consideration of the current situation in Adzharia.
According to Georgian Interior Minister Georgy Baramidze, Mikhail Saakashvili and Adzharian leader Aslan Abashidze spoke on the telephone on Sunday. After that, Abashidze spoke by telephone with Prime Minister Zurab Zhvania.
"The conversation focused on the incident that had taken place at a checkpoint near the Choloki river on Sunday morning when the Georgian President and his escort (about 100 armed men) were barred from entering Adzharia," Baramidze said.
The people who had gathered near the checkpoint were all worked up by rumours that somebody was allegedly going to seize Adzharia, the Interior Minister pointed out. He laid responsibility for dissemination of the provocative rumours on the leadership of the autonomous republic.
According to Baramidze, Abashidze was warned by the Georgian leader during their telephone conversation that in case the situation in Adzharia continues to develop in the current mode the Georgian central authorities would not sit on the fence and apathetically watch the developments like Eduard Shevardnadze who preferred not to interfere and let the situation take its course.
"The Georgian leadership, enjoying a massive popular support in the country, is authorized to take appropriate measures in that case," the Interior Minister pointed out.
