Mr Shevardnadze hopes energy deals will boost Georgia's weak economy

Colleagues of Mr Sanaya, who hosted a late-night political discussion programme on Rustavi 2 national television, said they found his body riddled with bullets after he did not turn up for work.

In recent months, there has been an increase in violence in Georgia, which remains one of the poorest countries in the ex-Soviet Union.

There is no information yet on whether the Georgian president will reschedule his trip to Azerbaijan.

The agreement he was expected to sign with the president of Azerbaijan would pave the way for a pipeline that would transport some 5bn cubic metres of gas to Turkey via Georgia.

The consortium, led by BP Amoco, who commissioned the project, say the pipeline will be more effective than present routes running to ports in Russia and Georgia, because they cut out the congestion in the Black Sea.