SHEVARDNADZE PLAYS DOWN AJAR CHALLENGE.

According to Georgian President Eduard Shevardnadze, the latest developments in Ajaria “do not in the least signify a confrontation between Tbilisi and Batumi.” Aslan Abashidze’s and the other Ajar leaders’ “critical remarks about the central government reflect their desire to solve the problems in close consultation with Tbilisi,” Shevardnadze told the press yesterday. (Russian agencies, June 25). The president did not mention the Ajar decision to boycott the Tbilisi parliament and invective-filled demands for changes in Georgia’s executive leadership (see the Monitor, June 25). With the Abkhaz and South Ossetian problems on his hands, Shevardnadze is vulnerable to the opening of a third front in Ajaria.

KOCHARIAN CREATES POLITICAL COUNCIL.