GEORGIA MOVING TOWARD FEDERALISM.

At a meeting of the Georgianconstitutional convention, President Eduard Shevardnadze said thatTbilisi was prepared to federalize the country, Interfax reported May29. He said that Abkhazia and Ajaria would enjoy extensive autonomy,with the central government retaining only such powers as to guaranteeits sovereignty over the country. Shevardnadze said that South Ossetiawould be granted a lesser level of autonomy, and only if it agreed tothe repatriation of ethnic Georgians forced out in 1992. Perhaps mostsignificantly, Interfax said that Georgia would allow neighboring NorthOssetia to participate in all future constitutional talks, a step thatmay ameliorate the situation, but only at the cost of undercuttingstill further Georgian sovereignty.

Movement In Tajik Talks.