Opposition in Georgia demand more resignations, early election

A coalition of opposition parties in Georgia on Friday demanded the interior minister's resignation, the release of protesters detained the previous night, and talks on holding an early parliamentary election, one opposition leader said. Tamar Kordzaia, leader of the opposition Republican Party, said that the opposition would continue to hold protests to press it's to the case for those demands.

Crowds angry over the visit of a Russian lawmaker tried to storm Georgia's parliament building on Thursday evening, pushing against lines of riot police, throwing bottles and grabbing riot shields from some officers and tearing off their helmets. Georgia's president later called Russia "an enemy and occupier" and suggested Moscow had helped trigger protests that rocked Tbilisi, but the Kremlin on Friday blamed radical Georgian politicians for what it called "an anti-Russian provocation".

The speaker of parliament, Irakli Kobakhidze, resigned on Friday, satisfying one of the protesters' earlier demands.