WORLD IN BRIEF : GEORGIA : Shevardnadze Enters Presidential Race

De facto leader Eduard A. Shevardnadze, who narrowly escaped an assassination attempt last month, registered as a candidate for the Nov. 5 presidential election and is strongly favored to win. A day earlier, Shevardnadze had launched his campaign in the western city of Kutaisi with a pledge not to allow the republic of 5 million people racked by ethnic dissension to be dismembered. In Kutaisi, Shevardnadze unveiled a monument to King David, “the builder” who consolidated Georgia and brought it prosperity 800 years ago. “David should serve us as a model of how to deal with Georgia’s territorial integrity,” the former Soviet foreign minister told a crowd of about 50,000 people.