Georgian President Shevardnadze Resigns, Sparking Jubilant Celebrations After Weeks of Protests

Georgian President Shevardnadze Resigns, Sparking Jubilant Celebrations After Weeks of Protests. Georgian President Eduard Shevardnadze resigned Sunday as the opposition threatened to storm his residence. His fall sparked fireworks and dancing among tens of thousands of protesters, and ended a political crisis astonishing for its speed and lack of violence in a blood-washed region. Shevardnadze's resignation caps a political career during which he won admiration in the West by helping guide the Cold War to an end as Soviet foreign minister under Mikhail Gorbachev. But during 10 years as president of Georgia, he became despised for rampant corruption. Residents of Tbilisi poured into streets and partied late into the night after the resignation was announced, honking car horns and waving flags on the capital's main Rustaveli Avenue. Champagne corks flew, and revelers placed flowers into the machine gun barrels of two armored personnel carriers blocking a street. The United States and European Union expressed cautious support for the new leaders while urging them to pursue stability, abide by the constitution and hold democratic elections. Georgia lies at a crossroads important to both the United States and Russia, on the planned path of an oil pipeline between the landlocked Caspian Sea and the ports of the Black Sea. The Caucasus nation has seen two bloody separatist movements under Shevardnadze's rule since 1992. Throughout nearly three weeks of protests since parliament elections that the opposition said were rigged both sides, mindful of Georgia's history of fatal political conflicts, had pledged to avoid provocations. Shevardnadze said maintaining peace was paramount in his decision to resign.