[Congressional Record Volume 144, Number 9 (Tuesday, February 10, 1998)]
[Senate]
[Page S547]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]


    ATTEMPT ON THE LIFE OF PRESIDENT EDUARD SHEVARDNADZE OF GEORGIA

  Mr. BROWNBACK. Mr. President, I serve on the Foreign Affairs 
Committee and I note, last night an attempt was made on the life of 
President Eduard Shevardnadze of The Republic of Georgia by assailants 
who have yet to be identified. President Shevardnadze survived the 
attack without injury. Unfortunately several members of his personal 
security detail were killed, and number of others were wounded.

  The Republic of Georgia is one of the key linchpins of the new 
Eurasia. It is the most democratic of all of the states that succeeded 
the Soviet Union. Under President Shevardnadze's inspired leadership a 
civil war has been put to rest, criminals have been jailed, private 
armies have been disarmed, and economic decline has been reversed. In 
1997, Georgia's economy grew by nearly 8 percent, inflation was held in 
check and the Georgian currency remained rock solid. Democracy has 
flourished. Indeed, if democracy is allowed to fail in Georgia, it is 
unlikely to succeed anywhere in the region.
  Any attempt to kill Shevardnadze must be seen in those context. It is 
an attempt to derail a successful democratic process, and an effort to 
compromise the growing number of U.S. economic and strategic interests 
in Georgia and the region.
  According to Georgian authorities, the attempted assassination was 
well-planned and well-executed by as many as 30 well-trained 
assailants. They were armed with rocket propelled grenades and 
automatic weapons. The Georgians are asking, as we must ask: How could 
a group this size operate undetected in the capital of Georgia? Where 
did they receive arms and ammunition? Who trained them? Where did they 
disappear to in the aftermath? And most importantly: Whose interests do 
they represent?
  Georgian authorities make it clear that they suspect outside powers 
of this attempt on the life of their president. They are not alone. 
Azerbaijan's president Aliyev was also the object of an assassination 
attempt in recent days, which Azerbaijani authorities believe was 
planned and executed by outsiders. We should be mindful that these two 
cowardly acts may be part of a plan to destabilize the Caucasus with 
the intention of scaring off American and other investors who seek to 
bring the Caspian's great energy wealth west to international markets.
  Who benefits from promoting instability in the Southern Caucasus at 
this time? Russia is everyone's leading candidate as the outside power 
with the most to gain. Russia has long raged and conspired to thwart 
Caspian energy from flowing any direction but north through Russia. 
Most parts of Russia's political elite still view Caspian wealth as 
their own. The suspected perpetrator of an earlier assassination 
attempt on Shevardnadze remains under Russian care despite vociferous 
demands from Georgia that he be extradited. Russia still has bases in 
Georgia from which yesterday's attack could be planned and staged. None 
of this is proof of Russian complicity, but the strong suspicion of 
Russian involvement will not go away quickly.
  The U.S. Government should make every effort to learn the truth. More 
than this, we must articulate in clear and forceful terms to those 
outside powers who might be tempted to destabilize the Caucasus some 
simple truths:
  First, the United States has vital interests in the Caucasus which 
these attacks threaten.
  Second, our support for President Shevardnadze and the other 
Caucasian leaders is unbending.
  Third, we will do everything we can to facilitate democracy and free 
markets in the region.
  Fourth, oil and gas will flow west.
  And finally, we must make it painfully evident that outside states 
that seek to destabilize America's friends in the Caucasus are not 
states we will favor with political and economic aid and other forms of 
assistance.
  The attempt to kill President Shevardnadze, one of America's most 
valued friends, is intolerable and will have consequences.
  Mr. GRASSLEY addressed the Chair.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. The Senator from Iowa.
  Mr. GRASSLEY. Mr. President, I ask unanimous consent to speak as in 
morning business.
  The PRESIDING OFFICER. Without objection, it is so ordered.

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