Georgia On My Mind

And it should be on yours, too:

GEORGIA was yesterday plunged into crisis after it was revealed a political associate of dead prime minister Zurab Zhvania had apparently committed suicide.

There were fears of a return to the old Soviet ways of dispensing with political foes by alleged accident or suicide after the third death in the government in as many days.

Zhvania, a moderating force in the Georgian government, and a colleague died apparently of carbon monoxide poisoning caused by a faulty heater last week.

Georgy Khelashvili, 32, a political associate of Zhvania, was found dead at his home of a gunshot wound on Friday night, a Tbilisi police official, Irakli Pirkhalala, said yesterday. Khelashvili was a member of the presidential commission on pardons and part of Zhvania’s United Democrats political bloc.

But within hours of the announcement of the suicide, officials changed the story and said Khelashvili was not known by the dead prime minister and had in fact held a low civil service position.

This has Vladimir Putin's paw prints all over it.

My tip: keep an eye on the former Soviet satellite states, particularly those which represent possible pathways for an oil pipeline from Iran, over the next few weeks. Putin's up to no good here, and aside from the pipeline, Russia has strong attachment to Georgia, which was the birthplace of Stalin.