Security forces in the former Soviet republic of Georgia said Sunday they had found a cache of weapons which was to have been used in an attack on President Eduard Shevardnadze.The announcement came the same day as a parliamentary election which has left tensions running high between opposition parties and the authorities.
Shevardnadze, 75, has survived two near-miss assasination attempts during his ten-year tenure as Georgia's leader.
Security Minister Valerii Khaburzania told reporters that the weapons, including anti-tank grenades, and large amounts of explosives, were found Saturday near the capital, Tbilisi.
"According to our information, it was intended for detonation near the cortege of the president in order to sow instability in society," he said.
In one of the assassination bids on Shevardnadze, his armoured limousine was hit by anti-tank grenades.
Observers said the election was set to deliver a stern rebuke to Shevardnadze, blamed by many voters for a decade of poverty and corruption.
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