Georgia's Saakashvili says Opposition will not force him to resign.

TBILISI, June 20 (Itar-Tass) -- Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili
has said the Opposition is unable to force him to leave the presidential
post.

"The Opposition's blockade of several streets in Tbilisi is unable to
ruin Georgia or to force me to resign," Saakashvili said on the Rustavi-2
television channel Friday evening. "As the country's president I am
responsible for its development, and I am not going to leave the post at
this moment so dramatic for Georgia."
The Opposition since April 9 has held non-stop protest demonstrations
in support of Saakashvili's demand and an early presidential election. The
strongest protests by the Opposition were on April 9 (by more than 100,000
demonstrations) and on May 26 (by 65,000).
Over the past days an estimated 2,000 to 4,000 participated in the
protest actins. The Opposition's leaders say they will go ahead with
demonstrations until Saakashvili has stepped down.


.Romania was involved in April unrest in Chisinau - Moldovan FM.


CHISINAU, June 20 (Itar-Tass) -- Romania was involved in staging last
April's rioting in Chisinau, Moldovan Foreign Minister Andrei Stratan said
in an interview the Moldovan media published on Friday.
"The evidence at the disposal of the Moldovan authorities proves the
complicity of some Romanian personalities to the April 7 events," Stratan
said. He added that all the necessary conclusions would be made by the
state commission investigating the events of April 6-8 and also by the
Prosecutor-General's Office.
Stratan described as "well-founded" the declaration of the Romanian
ambassador in Chisinau, Filip Teodorescu, as persona non-grata. Stratan
said that on the eve of the unrest the Moldovan authorities had warned the
Romanian diplomat of the impermissibility of intervention in the country's
internal affairs.
"As early as last March, in compliance with the provisions of the
Vienna convention I summoned Mr. Teodorescu to my office and demanded that
Bucharest should refrain from meddling in protest demonstrations in
Chisinau during the election campaign. I handed over a special note to
this effect. He read it, tossed it down onto the table and left. That was
an extraordinary event," Stratan said.
Moldova eventually expelled the Romanian ambassador and introduced a
visa regimen after unrest in the capital Chisinau last April, when
rampaging demonstrators raided the building of parliament and the
presidential residence and raised the flags of the European Union and
Romania. The Moldovan law enforcers suspect Romania's ambassador of
connections with the organizers of street demonstrations and acts of
violence. The Moldovan leadership asked the European Union for assistance
in resolving its dispute with Romania.
Moldova is the sole country Romania has no border treaty with.
Negotiations on signing such a document, as well as those on a base treaty
between the two countries, have continued for more than fifteen years. The
complication of relations between the two countries over the recent years
have hindered the process.
Bucharest does not recognize the existence of the Moldovan language as
an alternative to Romanian. In the meantime, Moldovan is the state
language under the Moldovan Constitution.
The Romanian authorities have accelerated citizenship acquisition
procedures for the Moldovan people. Chisinau sees this as an encroachment
on its sovereignty.


.Moscow briefs Tel-Aviv of efforts to resume MidEast peace process.


MOSCOW, June 20 (Itar-Tass) -- Moscow has briefed Tel-Aviv of the
efforts Russia exerts to furnish assistance to the Palestinian National
Autonomy and bring about a resumption of the peace process in the region,
the Russian Foreign Ministry said after Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov's
talks with Israeli Deputy Prime Minister, Foreign Minister Avigdor
Liberman. The conversation was requested by the Israeli side.
"The foreign ministers discussed crucial issues of bilateral relations
and the current situation in the Middle and Near East," the diplomatic
source said. "Sergei Lavrov briefed his counterpart on the measures Russia
was taking to provide assistance to the PNA and secure the resumption of
the peace process in the region."
The Russian Foreign Ministry recalled that "after Israeli Prime
Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's statement on the recognition of the
principle of two states as the basis for the Palestinian-Israel settlement
Moscow noted with satisfaction Israel's commitment to the establishment of
peace in the Middle East and its readiness for the early resumption of
negotiations."
"We are prepared to act jointly with our partners in the 'quartet' to
actively promote the further rapprochement between the two sides in the
interests of the early resumption of the peace process," Russian Foreign
Ministry spokesman Andrei Nesterenko said. "Benjamin Netanyahu's statement
contained a number of ideas that are to be negotiated and agreed on
through direct Palestinian-Israeli talks. This approach of ours is
supported by the response to Netanyahu's statement from most Arab
capitals."
The Russian Foreign Ministry proceeds form the assumption that
"progress on the Palestinian-Israeli track can be achieved only if both
countries firmly adhere to the commitments made under the road map plan.
"That document declares quite clearly the need for the reciprocal
movement by the parties concerned and also a negotiated solution of such
problems as the final status of the Palestinian territories, including the
future of Jerusalem and settlements, without predetermination of the
outcome," Nesterenko said.

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