Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Monday, November 24, 2003
Georgia's new leader says Shevardnadze left Georgia
Georgia's acting president Nino Burdzhanadze said on Sunday she believed Eduard Shevardnadze who announced his resignation earlier in the day, had left the country.
Georgia's acting president Nino Burdzhanadze said on Sunday she believed Eduard Shevardnadze who announced his resignation earlier in the day, had left the country.
"I understand he left the country and I don't know where he is," Burdzhanadze told the Cable News Network (CNN) television.
However, reports from Berlin said that the German government said it will be happy to offer Shevardnadze refuge.
"Should Eduard Shevardnadze decide to come to Germany, he would be welcome, not least because of his merits on the German unification," said Bela Anda, spokesman for the German government.
Germany's media reported that Shevardnadze had allegedly boughta villa in the southern German region of Baden-Baden through a middle-man.