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Ex-president of Georgia Zviad Gamsakhurdiyaâ€™s body to be brought to Tbilisi

05 March 2007 11:00 (UTC +04:00)

The body of the first president of Georgia Zviad Gamsakhurdiya was found in Grozny and will be brought to Tbilisi to bury, APA reports. It is planned to bury Gamsakhurdia in Tbilisi on March 31, his 68th birth anniversary, and the governmental commission for the ex-presidentâ€™s reburial began to consultations with ex-presidentâ€™s family. Tbilisi Vice-Mayor Mamuka Akhvlediani said that special delegation will be send to Grozny after negotiations with Manana Archvadze, widow of Georgian first president Zviad Gamsakhurdia. The commission will be composed of family members of Ex-president, representatives of Tbilisi Majorâ€™s Office and Georgiaâ€™s Foreign Ministry. Besides, the delegation includes forensic examination group. DNA test will be held after his remains will be brought to Tbilisi.
â€œWe should be sure that it is my father. It will be possible to take away the remains when the identification procedures are complete,â€? ex-presidentâ€™s son Georgi Gamsakhurdiya said.
Gamsakhurdia was the Georgian chief of state from 1991 through early 1992. A civil confrontation forced him to leave the country for Chechnya. He stayed away for 18 months, and returned to Georgia in September 1993. An attempt to regain control by force was abortive. Gamsakhurdia died in Western Georgia on December 31, 1993 committing suicide. His family asked to bring him to Grozny to bury in 1994. /APA/