Georgia braced for fresh rallies

The opposition has been urging Shevardnadze to resign

The Georgian capital Tbilisi is braced for further protests as opposition groups refuse to recognise the results of Sunday's parliamentary elections.

Thousands of riot police and troops are stationed around the city.

The opposition is calling on President Eduard Shevardnadze to resign or concede defeat over allegations that the results were fixed.

On Wednesday the United States urged Mr Shevardnadze to ensure a timely, full and accurate vote count.

Correspondents say the capital was tense on Thursday but the opposition was planning more demonstrations on Friday and over the weekend.

Reuters news agency says the election commission has postponed releasing final election results.

Officials had said they would release final results 1400 GMT on Thursday, but emerged from a meeting saying that deadline was only for local polling stations to finish counting ballots.

The BBC's Chloe Arnold says the pro-Shevardnadze bloc appears to have the lead over the opposition National Movement, contrasting with exit polls.

The mismanagement and fraud of Georgia's 2 November parliamentary election denied many Georgian citizens their constitutional right to vote US embassy statement

State Department spokesman Adam Ereli said US ambassador Richard Miles had met the Georgian leader to "review the latest developments".

"I think that President Shevardnadze understands the seriousness of our concerns and will undertake to be responsive," Mr Ereli said.

The embassy in Tbilisi also put out a strongly worded statement, saying: "The mismanagement and fraud of Georgia's 2 November parliamentary election denied many Georgian citizens their constitutional right to vote."

International observers have criticised the electoral process, saying they had witnessed "spectacular" irregularities.

Intimidation

The president has said attempts to force him to step down are futile.

Popular Georgian theatre director Robert Sturua urged the authorities and opposition to start negotiations in order to avoid bloodshed.

f the events develop like that, it may result in a tragic confrontation like the one 12 years ago Robert Sturua

"Political temperatures have reached their peak in the country," he said. "If the events develop like that, it may result in a tragic confrontation like the one 12 years ago,"

In 1992 fighting between government troops and opposition militias led to the fall of President Zviad Gamsakhurdia, making way for the rise of Mr Shevardnadze.

Opposition supporters say they suffered intimidation, and there were claims of ballot boxes being stuffed with forged votes in the elections at the weekend.

The opposition's midday Wednesday deadline for Mr Shevardnadze to resign passed apparently without incident.

The authorities have blamed the slow count on organisational problems. But the opposition says the delay is a deliberate attempt to manipulate the results in favour of parties supporting Mr Shevardnadze.