Patarkatsishvili Comments on Okruashvili
Badri Patarkatsishvili, a business and media tycoon, said in an interview with the Russian daily Kommersant that he had ?absolutely normal, good relations? with ex-Defense Minister Irakli Okruashvili.
The interview, Kommersant said on Saturday, was recorded late on September 27, shortly before Patarkatsishvili left London for Tbilisi and shortly after Okruashvili?s arrest.
Two days before his arrest, Okruashvili claimed that President Saakashvili had wanted ?to get rid of Patarkatsishvili? in the same way as happened with former Lebanese Prime Minister Rafik Hariri, who was killed in a car bomb explosion.
When asked whether he was afraid to return to Tbilisi, Patarkatsishvili responded: ?Of course, I am afraid. But I would have no self-respect if I didn’t return.?
?Okruashvili held various top-level positions in the government,? Patarkatsishvili said, ?and people at that level do not waste words, I believe. My experience of him [Okruashvili], tells me that he is a person you can trust.?
When asked for his position on the on-going protest, he said that he would ?stand beside people.?
Patarkatsishvili also said that he shared many of Okruashvili’s opinions, including those on the restoration of Georgian territorial integrity.
?We both think that it should occur with the economic interest of all sides in mind. This is the most correct way,? Patarkatsishvili said.
Okruashvili, known for his hawkish stance towards the secessionist regions, said on September 25 that, as Defence Minister, he had a plan, involving ?a small-scale operation with minimum casualties? to reclaim breakaway South Ossetia. Saakashvili, however, refused to give the go-ahead, Okruashvili said.
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