The World - News from April 19, 1989

Soviet Foreign Minister Eduard A. Shevardnadze left the capital of the Soviet republic of Georgia after working to restore calm following the deaths of 19 people in a confrontation with security forces at a nationalist rally April 9. Earlier, authorities lifted the overnight curfew in Tbilisi. The official news agency Tass also said that the army was relinquishing responsibility for maintaining order to special security forces made up of militia members and volunteers. The apparent calming of the situation seemed to be a major success for Shevardnadze, a former Georgian Party leader who won accolades for his handling of student nationalist unrest in 1978 and 1981 while he was running the republic.