Shipments of oil and cargo were moving again through Georgia’s strategic Black Sea port of Batumi after the government lifted a blockade imposed to bring the rebellious local leadership to heel. But political tensions lingered on, especially over a March 28 parliamentary election which, it was feared, could be a new flashpoint between the capital, Tbilisi, and hardline local leader Aslan Abashidze. Abashidze’s semi-autonomous Adjara region and Georgia’s government squared off this week after Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili complained that Abashidze was rebelling against central rule from Tbilisi. The Georgian head of state put his military on high alert and threw up a trade embargo around Adjara, bringing its busy cargo routes and its oil terminal at the port of Batumi to a standstill. Full Story
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