NATO chief pays tribute to late Georgian PM

BRUSSELS, Feb 3 (AFP) - NATO chief Jaap de Hoop Scheffer paid tribute Thursday to Georgian Prime Minister Zurab Zhvania after the reformist leader's accidental death.
"I am saddened by the sudden death of Prime Minister Zurab Zhvania," the military alliance's secretary-general said in a statement.
"He played an important role in helping Georgia meet its aspirations for greater peace, prosperity and euro-Atlantic integration," De Hoop Scheffer said, extending his condolences.
Zhvania, 41, died in an apartment on the outskirts of Tbilisi after apparently suffocating from gas leaked by a faulty heater, officials said, ruling out foul play.
He was a well-respected figure seen as the driving force behind market-oriented economic reform in the restive former Soviet republic.

02/03/2005 16:45 GMT - AFP