Saakashvili opponents bar him from entering National Library to deliver annual address
TBILISI. Feb 8 (Interfax) - Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili's supporters and opponents have gathered near the National Library building, where he was supposed to deliver an annual address on the situation in the country.
An Interfax correspondent reported from the scene that an enraged crowd crushed policemen who were trying to form a corridor for the president to pass safely and is barring him from entering the building.
Saakashvili, encircled by bodyguards, is standing at some distance away from the entrance.
Opposition activists earlier gathered near the library building and formed what they called a corridor of disgrace through which Saakashvili was supposed to walk.
Several dozens of the president's supporters are also standing not far from the library but not approaching it.
Journalists and members of the diplomatic corps have gathered in the library and are waiting for Saakashvili's appearance, the Interfax correspondent said.