Leader of Georgia's restive Adzharia region Aslan Abashidze said Wednesday that he would meet with President Mikhail Saakashvili in the region's capital of Batumi on Thursday, Russian Interfax News Agency reported.  

He made the statement during a press conference after talks with Georgian parliamentary speaker Nino Burzhanadze, which had lasted for nearly seven hours.

Burzhanadze expressed her hope that Abashidze and Saakashvili would reach an agreement on issues that are still unsettled.

"We discussed ways to restore and strengthen the constitutional system all over Georgia, so that elections can be held in Azharia and other parts of Georgia. This is important," Burzhanadze said.

Georgia is to hold parliamentary elections on March 28, the first of this kind after the step down of former President Eduard Shevardnadze last November.

The tensions between Adzharia and Georgia have been soared since last November's peace street protest led by the then leader of a radical party Saakashvili ousted Shevardnadze and helped ensure Saakashvili's election of president.

Saakashvili has vowed to reunify the Caucasian country that has seen three of its republics, including Adzharia, free themselves from Tbilisi's control.

Adzharia, an independent-minded autonomous region in the southwestern part of Georgia, has been pursuing economic autonomy.

The recent impasse between Georgia and Adzharia erupted on March 14 when Saakashvili was denied entry into the republic. The president then set a Monday deadline for Abashidze to accept Tbilisi's authority, a deadline which came and went without Abashidze complying with Georgia's demands.

Saakashvili then froze the local government's bank accounts and imposed a land, air and sea blockade into Adzharia, claiming that the measures will not be canceled until Abashidze starts abiding by the Georgian Constitution.

(Xinhua News Agency March 18, 2004)