Last Soviet FM Shevardnadze dies

Eduard Shevardnadze, who helped end the Cold War as the Soviet Union's last foreign minister before becoming president of Georgia, died on Monday at the age of 86.

"Mr Shevardnadze died today at noon," his aide Marina Davitashvili said, weeping. "He was ill for a long time."

Shevardnadze won high praise on the world stage for his time as Mikhail Gorbachev's chief diplomat, when he oversaw arms-reduction treaties with the United States and brokered the deal that brought down the Berlin Wall.

Speaking on Russian radio, the former Soviet leader recalled Shevardnadze as "Georgia's ideal representative".

"You could speak to him directly, it was good working with him."

"He was a very capable, talented man, very much predisposed to working with people, with all strata of society," Gorbachev said.

Russian President Vladimir Putin also expressed "deep condolences to (Shevardnadze's) relatives and loved ones as well as to the entire Georgian people," a Kremlin statement said.

Georgian Prime Minister Irakli Garibashvili joined in the tributes, saying the former leader's "contribution to defining Georgia's geo-political role in the modern world is of particular importance".

"Eduard Shevardnadze was a politician of international importance; he made an immense contribution to ending the Cold War and establishing a new world order."

But Shevardnadze's 10 years as leader of his native Georgia ended with a dramatic fall from grace, when his overthrow in the 2003 "Rose Revolution" saw thousands dancing and singing in the streets of the capital Tbilisi.

Shevardnadze left the country mired in poverty and chaos and remained a polarizing figure until his last days.

Final years in seclusion

"In Georgia he was very much criticized for the level of corruption during his tenure as president, but he saved the country from the chaos of the civil war," political analyst Alex Rondeli said.

"He played a key role in strengthening European security."

Shevardnadze spent his final years in seclusion in his private residence outside Tbilisi, surrounded by photos of old friends and past glories.

Family members have not yet decided where the former president will be buried, said his aide Davitashvili, but his wishes were to be laid to rest next to his wife.

Shevardnadze said as much in an interview in 2009, expressing the wish to be buried in his garden, beside the grave of his beloved wife, Nanuli - whose death he called the "most tragic event" in his life.

The government set up a special commission to organize the funeral, saying all expenses will be covered by the state.

(China Daily 07/08/2014 page12)