Georgia's peaceful revolution set an example for democracy in other countries, US President George W Bush has said on visit to Tbilisi.
Mr Bush's visit to the former Soviet republic, the first by a US leader, was to show support for Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili, observers said.
The US president is also set to address Georgians in Tbilisi's Freedom Square. . .
. . . On Monday night, the US and Georgian presidents and their wives attended an open air concert of Georgian folk music and dance in Tbilisi's historic town centre. At one point Mr Bush even decided to join in.
. . . He and his wife, Laura, were treated to a lively scene in the city's Old Town. Georgian dancers costumed in red, black and white and colorful headscarves performed dozens of traditional routines for the smiling, clapping — even hip-shaking — president.
Bush, who only planned to stay 20 minutes, was caught up in the revelry — the leaping and whirling and stomping — and remained for nearly two hours, including sitting down for a meal in a restaurant along the street. As he emerged in the doorway of the restaurant to leave, the dancing and singing resumed and a huge fireworks show sent him off with explosions that filled the sky above an ancient church on a nearby hillside.
"I learned first hand what it means to be fed by a Georgian," Bush said at the news conference. "I'm really full. And the food was great. I should have eaten my meal first and then danced."
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"The more he saw of Europe, the dearer his own country became, taking a
luster to all its parts that no one bound to the farther shore could know it
merited." (p. 331)
