A crisis in the chaotic former Soviet republic of Georgia over a bitterly-disputed parliamentary election took a violent turn when unidentified masked men fired off automatic rounds during an opposition rally in the west of the country. In scenes captured on national television, two people were hurt as the gunmen rampaged through a tree-lined park in the city of Zugdidi, firing into the air and at the ground in an apparent attempt to disperse the protesters. The opposition leader, who had been on his way to address the rally when the gunmen arrived, later alleged the attack had been organised by Georgia’s President Eduard Shevardnadze in an attempt to assassinate him. “These were police people,” he said in televised remarks. “The responsibility for this attack lies with Shevardnadze… He organised this. They thought I had already arrived because I wasn’t far away at the time.” Full Story