GAKHOKIDZE QUITS.

Georgia’s State Security Minister Jemal Gakhokidze resigned yesterday in the aftermath of the Zviadist-military mutiny. He had been one of the officials mandated to negotiate with the rebels and was briefly held hostage before they gave up (see the Monitor, October 20, 21). Gakhokidze’s security troops have since searched in vain for the fugitive rebel leader Akaki Eliava and his closest accomplices.

Gakhokidze, 48, had been security minister for slightly more than one year. Gakhokidze’s immediate predecessor and former superior, Shota Kviraia, criticized him yesterday for failing to exercise proper supervision over the tank unit in Senaki, where the rebellion began (Tbilisi radio and television, October 26). Kviraia had played a key role in investigating the 1995 assassination attempt against President Eduard Shevardnadze and reorganizing the State Security Ministry afterward.

A SPLIT IN KYRGYZ GOVERNMENT OVER RUSSIA-IRANIAN ARMS CONTRABAND?