Uneasy over the current upheaval

Leaders of separatist regions within Georgia's borders are keeping a close watch on developments in the capital, Tbilisi, following the resignation of Eduard Shevardnadze.

Abkhazia in the north-west is a de facto independent state following a war in the early 1990s in which 10,000 people were killed, while South Ossetia, which has strong ethnic and cultural ties with the Russian region of North Ossetia, has not recognised Tbilisi's authority since Georgia became independent in 1991.

The veteran strongman of Ajaria in the south-west of the country, Aslan Abashidze, was formerly a bitter opponent of Mr Shevardnadze but joined forces with him against an opposition which he saw as being more of a threat than the president.

Leaders in Tbilisi do not conceal their aggressive attitude to the Ajaria leadership Aslan Abashidze

Now that Mr Shevardnadze is gone, there is a fear that Mr Abashidze - who has already declared a state of emergency in the region - will have no compunction about organising a crackdown and possibly even breaking with Tbilisi altogether.

He has already banned MPs from the party he leads, the Union of Georgia's Democratic Revival, from taking part in parliamentary affairs in Tbilisi, according to Moscow's Channel One TV.

'Bloody revolution'

Mr Abashidze told Russia's Itar-Tass news agency on Tuesday that he considered the events in Tbilisi "a state coup".

"There are no 'velvet revolutions'. All revolutions are bloody. Eduard Shevardnadze's life is in jeopardy," he said.

"Measures taken by Ajarian leaders resulted from the fact that the leaders of the movement that came to power in Tbilisi do not conceal their aggressive attitude to the Ajaria leadership," Mr Abashidze added.

The deputy leader of his party, Dzhemal Gogitidze, said the latest events had invalidated parliament and there was currently no legitimate leader in Georgia.

The new Georgian leadership does not intend to aggravate relations with Aslan Abashidze Mikhail Saakashvili

"There is no president, nor acting president in Georgia. Since the 1999 parliament is non-existent, its speaker Nino Burjanadze has no right to occupy the post of acting president."

However, Georgian leader Mikhail Saakashvili has sought to mend fences with the Ajarian leader.

"The new Georgian leadership does not intend to aggravate relations with the head of the Ajaria Autonomous Republic Aslan Abashidze or to take any tough measures against him," Mr Saakashvili said.

"Aslan Abashidze is an important figure in Georgian political life."

Legitimacy stressed

South Ossetian President Eduard Kokoiti warned on Tuesday that his region "will not allow any disorder or instability to spread to its territory."

He told a news conference at the offices of Russia's Interfax news agency that South Ossetia would be willing to hold talks with Tbilisi "after the election of a legitimate leadership in Georgia".

South Ossetia hopes voters will lend support to sober-minded leaders Eduard Kokoiti

"South Ossetia also intends to continue consultations with North Ossetia, Abkhazia and Ajaria on a number of the most pressing issues."

Mr Kokoiti said he was seeking "a political dialogue for a peaceful settlement with the Georgian side with the mediation of the Russian Federation in the interests of bolstering peace in the Caucasus region".

"South Ossetia has an interest in the situation in Georgia emerging from its state of chaos and hopes that voters will lend support to sober-minded leaders who will reject confrontation and adopt a policy of restoring trust and returning relations between our peoples to normal."

'Independence non-negotiable'

Abkhazia's Foreign Minister Sergey Shamba also stated his region's willingness to negotiate with Tbilisi under certain conditions.

"Our mutual relations will be determined by how legitimate the power in Georgia is and how it regards the negotiating process and the settlement of the conflict. We are prepared for talks. After all, problems exist and they must be settled. As soon as elections are held in Tbilisi we will continue the dialogue."

A new constitution has been adopted in Abkhazia which determines the republic's independent status Sergey Shamba

"We have the sorry experience of when Shevardnadze came to power. Bloody events began in Western Georgia and after that in Abkhazia," he told the Moscow newspaper Nezavisimaya Gazeta.

Mr Shamba ruled out any possibility of Abkhazia agreeing to rejoin Georgia.

"First, a new constitution has been adopted in Abkhazia which determines the republic's independent state status. In 1999 this statute was confirmed in a nationwide referendum.

"And today there is no single party or political force in our country which would defend a different form of development for Abkhazia other than as an independent state."

He also warned that Abkhazia was quite capable of defending itself.

"Over the past 10 years, Abkhazia has created all the necessary state institutions including the army. Our Armed Forces have already demonstrated their combat capability twice since the war of 1992-1993. And we are confident that our army will be able to defend the population of Abkhazia."

BBC Monitoring, based in Caversham in southern England, selects and translates information from radio, television, press, news agencies and the Internet from 150 countries in more than 70 languages.