…AND ARRESTED IN GEORGIA.

The Georgian authorities have arrested oil executive Tamaz Mirianashvili on charges of complicity with former State Security chief Igor Giorgadze, the anti-Shevardnadze conspirator currently being sheltered in Russia. Mirianashvili, a vice president of Georgia’s state oil company Gruzneft, is said to be one of several economic executives whose appointment had been engineered by Giorgadze in order to gain control of key economic levers. Mirianashvili is moreover accused of illegally selling oil from state stocks under false pretenses in order to finance Giorgadze’s pursuits. (20) Mirianashvili’s arrest was accompanied by charges on the floor of the Georgian parliament and in the press that Giorgadze’s sanctuary in Moscow guaranteed by Defense Minister Pavel Grachev personally. Late last month the Georgian authorities arrested Dzaba Ioseliani, leader of the Mkhedrioni paramilitary and political group, on charges of involvement in the August 29 assassination attempt against President Eduard Shevardnadze, which had apparently been masterminded by Giorgadze.

1. Reuter, December 21

2. Reuter, December 21

3. Itar-Tass, December 20

4. Nezavisimaya gazeta, December 19

5. Interfax, December 20

6. Interfax, December 20

7. Interfax, December 20

8. Interfax, December 20

9. Interfax, December 20

10. Interfax, Itar-Tass, NTV, Russian TV, Reuter, December 19 and 20

11. Itar-Tass, December 18

12. Komsomolskaya pravda, December 19

13. Interfax, December 18

14. RFE/RL, December 19

15. BNS, December 18 through 20

16. Reuter, AFP, DPA, Interfax-Ukraine, December 19 and 20

17. Ukrainian TV, December 15; Interfax-Ukraine, AP, December 19; Itar-Tass, December 20

18. Ukraina moloda, December 12; Ukrainian parliament press release, December 15

19. Interfax, Reuter, December 13 and 20

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