Thousands protest against Saakashvili election win

Tbilisi: Tens of thousands of people massed in Georgia's capital on Monday to protest against President Mikheil Saakashvili, who they said had stolen victory for his ruling party in last week's parliamentary election.

After an Independence Day military parade, supporters of the main opposition bloc marched through central Tbilisi and massed in front of the parliament building.

"We want these elections to be cancelled and we want this parliament to be abolished," Salome Zurabishvili, a former foreign minister who fell out with Saakashvili and is now one of the opposition leaders, told the crowd.

"Otherwise we will stay here and we won't allow this parliament to work," he said.

Up to 40,000 people attended the demonstration, although opposition leaders said more than 100,000 had gathered.