- Title: GEORGIA: U.S PRESIDENT GEORGE W BUSH ARRIVES IN TBILISI
- Date: 9th May 2005
- Summary: (W4) TBILISI, GEORGIA (MAY 9, 2005) (POOL - ACCESS ALL) 1. WIDE OF U.S. STARS AND STRIPES FLAG FLYING NEXT TO GEORGIAN FLAG 0.05 2. WIDE OF U.S. PRESIDENTIAL AIRCRAFT 'AIRFORCE ONE' LANDING 0.19 3. SLV AIRFORCE ONE MANOEUVRING ON RUNWAY 0.26 4. CLOSE OF PRESIDENTS SEAL ON SIDE OF AIRFORCE ONE 0.29 5. WIDE OF U.S. PRESIDENT
- Embargoed: 23rd May 2005 13:00
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- Location: TBILISI, GEORGIA
- Country: Georgia
- Reuters ID: LVACREMK34SCLMO1AOGMCN25MRIM
- Story Text:George W. Bush becomes first U.S. President to visit
former Soviet republic of Georgia.
U.S. President George W. Bush flew to the small ex-Soviet
republic of Georgia on Monday (May 9) for a visit
being hailed as a pointed show of Washington's support for
democratic freedoms in Russia's backyard.
Bush, making the first visit to Georgia by a U.S.
president, arrived aboard the presidential aircraft 'Air
Force One' from Moscow, where he took part in celebrations
to mark the 60th anniversary of the defeat of Nazi Germany.
At Tbilisi airport, festooned with Stars and Stripes
flags, he was greeted by President Mikhail Saakashvili, the
pro-Western leader catapulted to power 18 months ago in a
"Rose Revolution" who has since been trying to shake off
the Kremlin's influence.
Saakashvili, a 37-year-old U.S.-educated lawyer who
speaks fluent English, boycotted the Moscow festivities
because the Kremlin refused to bow to his demands for the
immediate withdrawal of two Russian military bases on
Georgian soil.
Moscow has about 3,000 troops in the Soviet-era bases,
which Saakashvili has likened to an "occupation" of his
country. The United States has dozens of military trainers
in Georgia.
Georgia is in the turbulent Caucasus region, scene of a
clutch of local conflicts that grew from the collapse of
the Soviet Union. It is also on the route for a U.S.-backed
pipeline linking the oilfields of the Caspian Sea to world
markets.
The centrepiece of the 24-hour visit will be on Tuesday
(May 10), when Bush addresses the Georgian people on
Tbilisi's Liberty Square beneath a massive banner that
reads: "Celebrating Democracy and Freedom".
It was from that square in November 2003 that crowds of
people marched on Georgia's parliament, forcing the
resignation of veteran leader Eduard Shevardnadze.
Georgia's peaceful revolution created the template for
fellow ex-Soviet republics Ukraine and Moldova to turn
their backs on Moscow and pursue integration with the West.
The Bush administration has indicated it would be happy
to see power change hands elsewhere in the former Soviet Union with
Bel
arus -- described by Washington as central
Europe's last dictatorship -- at the top of its list.
In Georgia, a state of 5 million that saw its economy
implode after independence in 1991, most people were
eagerly awaiting the Bush visit. The new leadership is
tackling corruption but economic reforms are proving
painful.
Tbilisi was soaked by rain on Monday but officials say
if the weather improves more than 50,000 people will come
to hear Bush speak on Tuesday.
Lamp-posts along the city's main streets were decorated
with Georgian and U.S. flags while crews have worked round
the clock to repair the potholed roads.
Policemen in fluorescent rain capes lined the streets
in what locals said was the biggest security operation they
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