Emerging from talks with Aslan Abashidze, Saakashvili said he was lifting the blockade he had imposed on the Black Sea region to bring its leadership to heel.

The crisis was sparked March 14 when Abashidze barred Saakashvili from entering the province. The Georgian leader claimed that Adjara was staging an armed mutiny.

For Georgia's capital, Tbilisi, it was the last straw after years of disobedience, including withholding taxes from the capital and setting up a private militia. In addition, Tbilisi accused Abashidze of planning to rig a March 28 parliamentary election to prevent anyone other than his party winning votes in Adjara.

Saakashvili responded by putting his military on high alert and ordering the economic blockade, which brought Batumi's busy port and oil terminal to a standstill, and shut down Adjara's land border with Turkey.

The Japan Times Weekly: March 27, 2004
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