Georgian leader housebound as protests rage outside

MOSCOW, April 6 (RIA Novosti) - Georgia's president, whose popularity has plummeted since last summer's costly war with Russia and his government's democratic failings, is unable to leave his house due to continual street protests, a Russian daily said.

Izvestia said Mikheil Saakashvili had to cancel plans to attend the opening ceremony of a new theme park, and has not been seen outside at all since. He reportedly plans to remain barricaded in one of his residences until upcoming mass anti-government protests in Tbilisi, scheduled to start on April 9, are over.

Opposition youth groups have picketed the presidential administration building, the Interior Ministry, and the secret service headquarters, as well as restaurants frequented by the president.

Opposition groups have said upcoming mass protest rallies will last for one week. Analysts say they are unlikely to achieve their goal of forcing Saakashvili from power, due to the lack of a strong alternative leadership, but fears are growing that the protests could spiral out of control.

Saakashvili, who was swept to power five years ago in a series of popular protests known as the "Rose Revolution," alienated many Western allies in 2007, when anti-government protests were violently dispersed, with police firing at protesters with rubber bullets and water cannons.

On Sunday, Saakashvili had planned to open the Mtatsminda Park, hailed as "Tbilisi's Disneyland." Protesters said that as the park, created and previously opened by the late Georgian tycoon Badri Patarkatsishvili, was already up and running, and that the ceremony was merely part of a deceitful PR campaign by Saakashvili.

During the evening a group of youths wrote the word "disgrace" at the entrance into the park. Several dozen police attacked the group immediately, beating the young men, sprayed paint in the faces of others and confiscated their cars. Saakashvili, however, still did not head to the park after the youths were dispersed.

Georgian government officials have not commented on the incidents, and the pro-government television has not reported them.

Opposition media, on the other hand, have reported that special forces have begun training and that the army has been put on alert. Government ministers and lawmakers have warned the public that "possible acts of violence" by demonstrators may take place.

Conservative Party Secretary General Kakha Kukava has said that Saakashvili is preparing an emergency studio for the state-run Rustavi-2 television in his residence, just in case the television company stops broadcasting. A room has been set aside for foreign ambassadors who will be able to observe the protests live on April 9, and comment on the events.