TBILISI, Georgia – Former Georgian leader Eduard Shevardnadze says if he were his country's current embattled president he would resign.
Shevardnadze recalled in an interview with The Associated Press Tuesday that he voluntarily stepped down in 2003 to avoid bloodshed during massive public protests known as the Rose Revolution.
The protests propelled U.S.-allied Mikhail Saakashvili into power, but his popularity has declined since last August's botched war with Russia. Saakashvili has been facing daily opposition protests for more than a month, but has refused to resign.
Shevardnadze served as the Soviet Union foreign minister under Mikhail Gorbachev and was widely credited for his role in ending the Cold War.
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