Riot police disperse Georgia opposition protests

TBILISI — Authorities in ex-Soviet Georgia sent in riot police early Thursday as five days of opposition protests demanding the resignation of Western-backed President Mikheil Saakashvili ended violently.A policeman was killed when a car allegedly carrying a protest organiser fled the rally and hit the officer as it sped away, the interior ministry said.Ranks of police moved in just after midnight, firing rubber bullets and tear gas and using water cannon to disperse protesters armed with sticks and makeshift shields who were rallying outside the Georgian parliament.Several thousand had marched on parliament on Wednesday, accusing Saakashvili of authoritarianism and vowing to thwart a showpiece military parade to mark Georgia's Independence Day on Thursday.But only around 300 remained amid heavy rain after the authorities warned that the demonstrations would not be authorised after midnight Wednesday before the planned parade.A government statement accused protesters of acting "very aggressively" and "planning to violently resist the police".But some eyewitnesses said police beat detained protesters and protest leader Nino Burjanadze, who had promised a "revolution", accused the authorities of a heavy-handed crackdown."We will continue our course and democracy will win in Georgia," she told AFP.The authorities had insisted that the high-profile Independence Day celebration would go ahead despite the protests."The parade is a popular celebration of Georgia's independence. Provocations by an opposition political party must not hamper it," senior governing party lawmaker Nugzar Tsiklauri told AFP.Before police moved in, Western diplomats in Tbilisi said they supported the right to peaceful protest but expressed fears about potential confrontations."I?m concerned by indications that there are elements within those groups protesting who appear to be more interested in trying to force a violent confrontation than in peacefully protesting," US ambassador John Bass said."It must end tonight or tomorrow morning. T

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