Georgians stage protest against military parade marking independence in Tbilisi

Anti-riot police and law-enforcers of Georgia pushed protesters out of the front of the country's parliament building in the small hours of Thursday when a military parade is scheduled to start in a few hours time to mark the 20th anniversary of the Georgian independence from the former Soviet Union.

Anti-riot police were seen restrained from using excessive force and were seen firing water cannons and rubber bullets from time to time when resistance was tough.

Cooled down by several hours of downpours and greatly outnumbered by police, most protesters withdrew before the police took back control of the front section of the avenue running past the Georgian parliament building where a review platform had been set up.

Police started operation after midnight and the operation took a little over one hour.

Anti-riot police were then seen pulling back and took specially- arranged public buses to return to their barracks.

Ambulances were also seen rushing in and out of the police control area where police were said to have detained quite some protesters who refused to leave.

Several thousands of protesters late on Wednesday stopped in front of the parliament building along the Rustaveli Avenue while marching toward the downtown plaza Freedom Square for another public rally.

Nino Burjanadze, former parliament speaker and a key figure behind the public rally organized by the opposition People's Assembly, said that the protesters might stay in front of the parliament instead of proceeding toward the Freedom Square where the assembly protesters held their first rally on Saturday last week with the participation of some 5,000.

Some protesters even pitched up makeshift fences to block the avenue, the main boulevard of Tbilisi, capital of the South Caucasus country.

"We should stay here for 15 or 16 more hours, so that (Georgian President Mikheil) Saakashvili fails to review the military parade, " said Nino Burjanadze. "We should show endurance and stay here. We should keep vigil this night."

Some protesters and on-lookers feared that the authorities might resort to force to disperse the protesters blocking the avenue.

"We do not rule out that the authorities will try to break up the rally," said Irakli Batiashvili, another key figure in the People's Assembly.

The decision to stop outside the parliament was not announced in advance. The announced plan, however, was to march toward the Freedom Square, from the front of the state-owned television station GPB where protesters had stayed day and night since late Saturday.

The Tbilisi City Hall already advised protesters to move to other places.

Bacho Dolidze, spokesperson of the city hall, said that the permission for holding rallies in the Freedom Square and its nearby areas would expire Wednesday night, as a series of events had been planned for Thursday's celebration of the Independence Day.

The Georgian Interior Ministry on Wednesday released a video clipping taken with hidden cameras, showing dialogues among protesters who talked about being paid for taking part in the rally and about getting more pay for throwing home-made Molotov cocktail bombs during the protest.

The Georgian Party, another opposition in the South Caucasus country, withdrew its appeal for a "Day of Rage" on Wednesday and the move took some pressure off the streets in the Georgian capital.

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