Georgia gives ultimatum to Ajaria

One of the bridges blown up was the main crossing point into Ajaria

Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili has threatened to sack the leader of the rebel Ajaria region unless he meets a string of demands within 10 days.

His warning came hours after Ajarian forces blew up two bridges linking the region to Georgia.

The regional leader, Aslan Abashidze, said he feared Georgian soldiers on exercises nearby were about to invade.

Mr Saakashvili said Ajaria had to start disarming and to comply with the Georgian constitution.

"We have decided one last time to give a deadline to Aslan Abashidze," Mr Saakashvili said.

"We will give him 10 days to return to Georgia's constitutional framework, stop violations of law and human rights, and start to disarm."

He said he would dissolve Ajarian local institutions, remove Mr Abashidze and call new elections, if the deadline was not met.

The BBC's Chloe Arnold, in Tblisi, says Georgians fear for the stability of their country.

Rail tracks dismantled

Ajaria is technically an autonomous region within Georgia, but in practice it operates beyond Tbilisi's control.

In pictures: Ajaria row Ajaria tycoon defects to Tbilisi

Mr Abashidze maintains paramilitary units and declines to pay taxes to the Georgian budget.

The two sides came close to conflict in March, after Mr Saakashvili was refused entry to the region.

The Georgian government imposed an economic blockade and both sides put forces on alert until a deal was reached, which temporarily eased tensions.

Mr Saakashvili was observing the military exercises on the Black Sea coast north of Ajaria when the bridges were blown up.

Television showed a wrecked span of a bridge near the border, in the village of Kakuti, with concrete slabs in the river and several hundred armed men gathered nearby, Reuters reported.

The other destroyed bridge crossed the river Choloki, on the border itself.

Rail tracks were also pulled up by Ajarian forces, disrupting exports of Caspian oil from the Ajarian port of Batumi.

Russian concern

"According to our information, some sub-units of Georgian armed forces, participating in the current military exercises in the city of Poti, have set up their tents only 1km away from the administrative border," Mr Abashidze told the Itar-Tass news agency.

"Yesterday some media agencies published a plan for the military invasion of Ajaria. The council in Ajaria decided that it was necessary to take security measures, preventative measures," he added.

Mr Saakashvili denied any intention to invade Ajaria.

"Had we wanted to do so, bridges would not be necessary, anyway," he added.

The only remaining route from Georgia into Ajaria, suitable only for four-wheel-drive vehicles, is reported to have been blocked by Ajarian troops.

The Russian Foreign Ministry warned Tbilisi that the use of force to resolve the situation would have "catastrophic consequences".

"The situation in Ajaria arouses serious concern. Signals suggesting that force may be used against Ajaria are coming in," ministry spokesman Alexander Yakovenko said in an official statement.

Ajaria has never declared independence, unlike two other regions of Georgia, which are beyond central government control - Abkhazia and South Ossetia.

Conflicts which raged in these other regions in the 1990s remain unresolved.