TBILISI. April 23 (Interfax-AVN) - Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili has criticized Ajarian leader Aslan Abashidze's statements on the central authorities' intention to kill him.
"Such absurd information is being spread by Abashidze himself. If we believe what he says, 74 terrorist acts have been prepared against Abashidze over the last five years, and this rumor is the seventy-fifth," Saakashvili told journalists.
He categorically denied the idea that Russia supports "Abashidze's regime." "Russia is a serious country, and Georgia will develop close cooperation with it," the president said.
Talking about his supposed plans to invade Ajaria, Saakashvili said that "this is the same as if we decided to invade the right shore of the Kura in Tbilisi from the left shore."
Abashidze told Ajarian television on Thursday evening that he has information showing that the Georgian central authorities are planning to invade the autonomous republic.