November 6, 1995
Web posted at: 2 p.m. EST (1900 GMT)
TBILISI, Georgia (CNN) -- Eduard Shevardnadze, leader of independent Georgia since 1992, has won the former Soviet republic's first presidential elections, according to preliminary results released by the government's Central Election Commission. It said Shevardnadze received at least 75 percent of the vote. His main rival, Georgia's former Communist boss, Dzhumber Paatiashvili, was far behind with 17 percent.
Foreign observers said the election appeared to have been conducted properly, but opposition leader Irina Sarishvili said her moderate National Democratic Party would demand new votes in several districts where she claimed there were irregularities.
In a radio interview, Shevardnadze said one of his major
tasks will be to end the violence that has come close at
times to tearing the country apart. However, he also pledged
to strengthen the army and regain the secessionist regions of
Abkhazia and South Ossetia, using force if necessary.
Elections in those areas were postponed indefinitely.
Shevardnadze, the 67-year-old former Soviet foreign minister,
said in his campaign that only he could guarantee
continuation of Georgia's recent -- and still fragile --
stability. The nation of 5.5 million still is recovering
from four ethnic and civil wars since the Soviet collapse in
1991. The election commission said voter turnout was 64
percent.
COLOMBO, Sri Lanka (CNN) -- The government of Sri Lanka criticized the United Nations on Monday after the U.N.'s top official expressed "deep concern" for tens of thousands of ethnic Tamils on the run or crammed into refugee camps to escape fighting between government troops and rebels from the separatist Liberation Tigers of Tamil Eelam (LTTE).
The rebels have waged a 12-year war to create a homeland for minority Tamils in the island's north and east, and have run a virtual mini-state of their own for nearly a decade. But with the recent advance of government troops, refugees in large numbers now face the threat of starvation and disease.
"Humanitarian assistance on a significant scale will be
essential to minimize suffering," U.N. Secretary General
Boutros Boutros-Ghali said. But a Sri Lankan official said
the U.N. leader did not have all the facts and that refugees
would be able to return home soon. Foreign Minister Lakshman
Kadirgamar also said direct aid from international relief
agencies would no longer be permitted. Assistance for
refugees would have to be coordinated through the government
and distributed through the International Committee of the
Red Cross, Kadirgamar said.
As the army tightened its grip on rebel positions in the Jaffna peninsula, security forces arrested two Roman Catholic priests smuggling banned items, including cash and copper wire, to LTTE-held areas, the military said. More than 50,000 people have died in the Tamil separatist conflict.
SINGAPORE (CNN) -- Singapore's goriest murder trial in years neared its end Monday with prosecutors calling the accused Briton a liar who killed for greed, while his lawyers pleaded for a lesser charge of manslaughter.
John Martin, 35, faces the death penalty if convicted of murdering South African Gerard George Lowe in their shared hotel room early last March. Lowe's severed torso, thighs and legs were found floating in black rubbish bags in Singapore's harbor in mid-March. Under Singapore law, manslaughter carries a maximum sentence of 20 years in jail.
Martin, also known as John Martin Scripps, went on a buying spree after the killing, using Lowe's credit card. Martin admits killing Lowe but said it happened in a fit of fear after Lowe, 32, made a homosexual advance. Lowe's widow testified that her husband, who came to Singapore on a shopping holiday, was not a homosexual. Martin is also wanted in Thailand for the deaths of a Canadian woman, 49, and her son, 22, whose hacked remains were found last March. He has denied involvement in the killings on the Thai resort island of Phuket.
Martin claims a British friend got rid of Lowe's body and then demanded money for his help. He said it was the same friend who gave him the possessions of Lowe and the two Canadians. Martin has refused to identify the friend, saying he fears retaliation against his family. The prosecution's closing argument is expected to conclude on Tuesday. The judge will deliver the verdict.
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