Protest expands

Demonstrators in Georgia threatened widespread civil disobedience on Friday after President Mikheil Saakashvili faced mass street protests and rejected opposition demands to resign.

Opposition leaders, who brought thousands onto the streets of Tbilisi for a second day, said they would block streets leading to Saakashvili's office.

"We are launching a campaign of civil disobedience," Kakha Kukava, an opposition leader, told the crowd of around 25,000.

"It's obvious the answer to this question is 'No'," Saakashvili said when asked if he would give in to the opposition call.

(China Daily 04/11/2009 page11)