Georgian diplomat jailed for Washington killing

A former Georgian diplomat has been sent to jail for up to twenty-one years in Washington for causing the death of a sixteen-year-old girl by drunken driving.

Police said the diplomat, Georgy Makharadze, was driving at around one-hundred kilometres-an-hour through the centre of the United States capital when he hit another car at some red traffic lights.

At first, he claimed diplomatic immunity, but after an appeal from the American government, the Georgian President, Eduard Shevardnadze, insisted that Mr Makharadze returned to Washington to face trial.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service