Georgian President Accepts Resignation Of State Security Minister Vakhtang Kutateladze

On Wednesday Georgia's President Eduard Shevardnadze has accepted resignation of Vakhtang Kutateladze, Minister of State Security, the RIA Novosti correspondent was told at the office of the Georgian government. Kutateladze tendered his resignation at a sitting of the Georgian National Security Council behind closed doors. According to unconfirmed information, a retirement application has also been filed by the interior minister, Kakha Targamadze. This is taking place against the backdrop of an action of protest, held on the Rustaveli Avenue in the center of Tbilisi, against a recent search held by the State Security Ministry in the office of the Tbilisi independent television company Rustavi-2. The ministerial press service has circulated a special statement of Vakhtang Kutateladze. He says that "initiation of a criminal case against managers of the Rustavi-2 television company by investigators from the State Security Ministry of Georgia is understood by certain political groups as political pressure on the free press". He accuses the political forces whose goal is "the destabilisation of the situation in Georgia and the use of the State Security Ministry and its management for attaining their own political ends". The security minister said that in these conditions he believed it impossible to continue work in this post.