Georgian President to police: Solve UK banker kidnapping fast

Georgian President Eduard Shevardnadze has told the country's Interior Ministry, National Security Service, and the Prosecutor General "to solve the crime and free" British businessman Peter Show within days. Show was kidnapped by unidentified perpetrators in Tbilisi late Tuesday.

In remarks to a Cabinet meeting Wednesday, Shevardnadze said the incident was scarcely the first of its kind. He said, regretfully, that kidnappings seem to be "becoming fashionable." Shevardnadze acknowledged that Georgia is a small country living through hard times and said its law enforcement agencies do not have the resources to control crime. He pointed out, however, that powerful nations like the United States have their share of crime-related problems too.

UK national Show, 59, was kidnapped near his home in Tbilisi by a group of perpetrators wearing fake police uniforms. Authentic police officers witnessed the crime but were outnumbered and outgunned by the kidnappers. Show serves as director general of Agrobiznesbank, a commercial bank crediting Georgia's agriculture.