		Georgia minister seeks balance between Russia, U.S.

		Текст: Gazeta.ru combined reports Фото из архива Газеты.Ru A rival of Georgia's deposed President Eduard Shevardnadze took over as foreign minister on Sunday and immediately pledged to seek a balance in ties between former colonial master Russia and the United States.

Tedo Japaridze, 57, was sacked as head of Georgia's Security Council for opposing Shevardnadze during three weeks of protests which culminated in the president's resignation last Sunday.

Interim President Nino Burdzhanadze, who took over from the veteran leader, appointed him foreign minister and parliament unanimously approved him in the post on Sunday.

Japaridze said he would pursue Shevardnadze's bid to improve ties with the West and develop better relations with Moscow.

"It is very important for us to take these relations to a new level and create such a balance of interests that would help us formulate firm and friendly relations with Russia," he told the chamber.

Post-Soviet Russia has exerted economic and political pressure on Georgia and encouraged separatists in Georgian regions where central authorities in Tbilisi have lost control. Mikhail Saakashvili, the main force behind the protests that brought down Shevardnadze and a hot favourite for presidential elections on January 4, has pledged to restore control over secessionist areas and suggested he was prepared to use force.

A meeting among leaders of Georgia's three autonomous regions held Friday in Moscow would "outrage the rest of Georgia", the leader of Georgia's "rose revolution" warned. He also said a compromise would be found allowing the southern Adjara region to take part in the election. However, Mr Saakashvili said the Adjaran leader's decision to meet heads of separatist Abkhazia and South Ossetia "would outrage even the people of Adjara".Tom Warner, Tbilisi

Shevardnadze, interviewed on Russian state television, said he believed Georgia could have reversed separatist tendencies.

He said that before he was ousted he told Aslan Abashidze, leader of Adzhara, one of three regions deeply suspicious of Georgia's new leaders, that the Adzhara leader could prevent disintegration if he had Russian help.

Adzhara has never espoused outright separatism, unlike South Ossetia and Abkhazia, which broke free of Georgian control more than a decade ago. Heads of all three regions met Russian officials in Moscow last week.

"I told Aslan: 'If the Russians help you, the Abkhazians and the Ossetians will make a declaration that they favour the country remaining together as a whole," Shevardnadze told the television.

"...'If you do this, perhaps you can then become president of Georgia. Russia can persuade all three'. Georgia would then maintain its integrity and its collapse would be prevented."

Abashidze, long a rival to Shevardnadze, became his ally during the protests leading to the president's overthrow and acted as an emissary in talks with Russia and other countries. The Kremlin, which played a central role in negotiations leading to Shevardnadze's resignation, renewed public pledges on Sunday not to interfere in Georgia's internal politics.

"Time will tell in whose interests Georgia's new leaders will govern: in the Americans' interests or in the interests of Georgia's people," Sergei Prikhodko, the Kremlin chief foreign policy adviser, told reporters in St Petersburg.

"Russia will work with whoever is backed by Georgia's people. The president is not chosen by Moscow but in Georgia, at least one would hope so."

Japaridze worked as ambassador to the United States from the mid-1990s to 2002 before taking over as secretary of the Security Council. Irakly Menagarishvili, Georgia's last foreign minister and a close ally of Shevardnadze, resigned on Friday.

Shevardnadze irritated Russia by pursuing ties with the West and suggesting Georgia might one day joint NATO. Last year, U.S. specialists began training Georgian troops.

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Georgia minister seeks balance between Russia, U.S.