No deal in Georgia crisis talks

Mr Shevardnadze, flanked by bodyguards, met protesters

Talks to resolve a stand-off over disputed election results in Georgia have failed, reports say.

Opposition leaders emerged from two hours of talks with President Eduard Shevardnadze saying they would urge their supporters to keep protesting.

Crowds outside the parliament building in Tbilisi say they will not go until the president resigns.

They say last week's poll was rigged and should be annulled, but Mr Shevardnadze has rejected their demands.

Mr Shevardnadze called the talks with three opposition leaders at the Kstasnisi presidential residence, about five kilometres (three miles) from the centre of the capital.

We want peace, and the only chance of peace is to get rid of the president Mikhail Saakashvili National Movement

They included Mikhail Saakashvili, the leader of the opposition party, the National Movement, and Nino Burdzhanadze, the parliamentary speaker.

Mr Saakashvili left the closed-door talks first to tell reporters the president was not interested in any compromise and was leading the country towards civil confrontation.

He rejected the president's offer to set up a joint commission to investigate the alleged voting irregularities.

The three opposition leaders told their supporters to stay put as Mr Shevardnadze had given no answer to their complaints.

"From tomorrow on, we all have to stand together, so that tomorrow and the day after we don't let them to drag us into the war or confrontation," Mr Saakashvili said.

"We want peace, and the only chance of peace is to get rid of the president. And we'll do it together."

Shevardnadze's 'failure to deliver'

Mr Shevardnadze described the meeting as "tense but interesting".

He said the opposition leaders had asked him to "cancel the results of the election".

"I cannot cancel the results. I don't have a right to do this. But I don't think there is any sort of tragedy here."

The country's defence minister has said the crisis is "running out of control".

Just minutes after the Sunday talks ended, unidentified gunmen opened fire in the direction of a pro-Shevardnadze election campaign in Tbilisi, a government official was quoted as saying by Reuters news agency.

The official said that no one was hurt, without giving any further details.

Earlier on Sunday, Mr Shevardnadze walked out to meet with the protesters in Tbilisi.

"I do not intend to resign at the demand of individual politicians and a few dozen young people waving flags."

As he walked through the crowd of demonstrators, he was told to "Go away".

No talks

The ballot counting process in the election has been suspended following numerous complaints from voters in opposition strongholds.

Before the suspension, official interim figures showed that pro-government parties were holding the lead in the ballot, which observers say suffered spectacular irregularities.

The BBC's Chloe Arnold in Tbilisi says the real reason most people took to the streets is that they blame Mr Shevardnadze's government for a sharp decline in living standards since the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991.

INTERIM RESULTS Revival: 21.5% For a New Georgia: 20.7% National Movement: 18.9% Democrats: 7.7%

Latest figures - based on 80% of the votes counted - show that a regional party which supports Mr Shevardnadze has made a very strong showing, sharing the lead with his bloc.

The electoral commission said the Revival Party, run by Ajaria regional leader Aslan Abashidze, was ahead with 21.5% of the vote.

Mr Shevardnadze's For A New Georgia followed closely behind with 20.7% and the National Movement bloc with 18.9%

The results contrast with exit polls showing popular support for opposition blocs.