Georgia protests as cuts bite

President Shevardnadze warns Georgians of "total chaos"

Thousands of protesters brought the Georgian capital, Tbilisi, to a standstill on Friday as they demonstrated against power cuts that have left much of the country with electricity and heating for only six hours a day.

The protesters erected barricades and set tyres ablaze as Georgian President Eduard Shevardnadze held an emergency meeting of ministers and security officials.

We will stay here until we are convinced that we will have electricity 24 hours a day

Doctor Dato Eristavi

Mr Shevardnadze later gave a television address - which only those with private generators could watch - in which he warned that Georgia could descend into "total chaos".

The former Soviet republic was cut off from most of its energy supplies in the early 1990s, because of problems with maintaining its payments.

'The time has come'

With the harsh Georgian winter setting in, the protesters made their anger felt.

"We will stay here until we are convinced that we will have electricity 24 hours a day," Doctor Dato Eristavi told Reuters news agency as he manned the barricades.

"The time has come to show the government that we also have the right and capability to say what we need to say," added schoolteacher Nana Kvirikadze.

Energy Minister David Mirtskhulava said everything was being done to restore supplies to key services.

"The majority of hospitals and the subway have been hit by the outage," Mr Mirtskhulava said, adding that state television was "only working thanks to a generator reserved for emergencies".

Correspondents say that Mr Shevardnadze, who was re-elected this year, has promised to solve Georgia's energy crisis every year, but without success.