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Georgians plan mass disobedience Daily protests planned in Georgia
(about 8 hours later)
Georgia's opposition has announced a "national disobedience campaign", warning it will block major roads. Georgia's opposition has begun a campaign of daily disruption in the capital Tbilisi in a bid to oust President Mikhail Saakashvili.
About 20,000 opponents of President Mikhail Saakashvili have gathered outside Georgia's parliament. Activists blocked off major roads in the city for six hours and said they would repeat the closures between the same times each day.
One of their leaders, Kakha Kukava, said that "as of 6pm today (1400 GMT) the protesters will block main streets throughout Tbilisi", the capital. They accuse Mr Saakashvili of leading the country into a disastrous war with Russia and provoking a crisis.
Earlier, Mr Saakashvili rejected their call for him to quit, but said he was ready for a dialogue with them. The president insists he will serve out his full term in office, until 2013.
Opposition parties say his main error was to lead the country into war with Russia last year and plunge Georgians into what they call a crisis. He was speaking as the opposition held a new rally but the number of protesters - about 20,000 - was sharply down on the 60,000 reported on Thursday.
But he hit back on Friday, vowing to stay in office until his term ends in 2013. The opposition announced a "national disobedience campaign" with roads to be blocked between 1500 and 2100 daily (1100-1700 GMT).
Offer of dialogue Correspondents say traffic in central Tbilisi was paralysed on Friday afternoon by marching demonstrators.
Up to 60,000 people attended Thursday's opposition rally in the capital. Hundreds remained in the city centre overnight. 'Ultimatums every month'
Opposition leader Levan Gachechiladze said they had "no other choice but to stay here until our demand is met". As night fell on Friday, hundreds of protesters remained outside parliament.
class="" href="/1/hi/in_pictures/7992759.stm"> In pictures: Georgia protests Mr Saakashvili's critics say his style of government is autocratic
Mr Saakashvili appealed for "dialogue and sharing responsibility" on Friday. He urged "unity across the political spectrum". "We will stand here until the opposition's demands are met and we support these demands", Nino, an opposition supporter, told Reuters news agency.
"I want to again reiterate our offer of a dialogue on strengthening our democratic institutions and I want to say that we mean it, this offer is real," the AP news agency quoted him as saying. "The president must resign, there can be no dialogue with him," said another protester, Guka Kvantaliani, speaking to AFP.
Referring to the opposition's ultimatum for him to step down, he said: "The answer is no and it has always been no, because that is how it is under the constitution." "He must resign because he lost our territory, he is not interested in the people and there is no justice in Georgia."
Rejecting the calls to quit, Mr Saakashvili said he was ready for a dialogue with the opposition "on strengthening [Georgia's] democratic institutions".
"I've been listening to ultimatums every month for the last five years... My term expires in 2013," he told reporters.
Opposition leaders have appealed to the government not to use violence to break up mass protests.Opposition leaders have appealed to the government not to use violence to break up mass protests.
Police used rubber bullets and tear gas to break up the last mass protests in Tbilisi in November 2007.Police used rubber bullets and tear gas to break up the last mass protests in Tbilisi in November 2007.
An opposition supporter, Zaza Adeishvili, said Mr Saakashvili "was brought peacefully to his position and we want him to be taken away the same way, peacefully.
"We do not want any violence, we want him to get out of Georgia," he said.
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