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Russia's Duma lower house voted unanimously to suspend the country's compliance with the 1990 Conventional Armed Forces in Europe (CFE) Treaty limiting conventional force deployments on the continent.

The vote amounted to legislative confirmation of a decision to freeze Russian adherence to the pact already announced by President Vladimir Putin in July.

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Meanwhile ...

Georgian, "pro-western", storm troopers assault pro-democracy protesters

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The police sweep, while it cleared the avenue at least temporarily, underlined the intensity of the challenge to the government and reputation of President Mikheil Saakashvili, who rose to power with peaceful protests in 2003 and has cast himself as the most democratic ruler in the Caucasus.

The opposition has accused him of running a centralized government intolerant of dissent and undermined by high-level corruption and police and prosecutorial abuse.

Opposition leaders labeled the police action a political crackdown and mass punishment, and called for Georgians to gather in renewed protests. Georgia is a small and tightly networked nation. The possibility of escalation, or further clashes and police action, seemed high.

“The authorities have used weapons against the peaceful demonstrators, and therefore the authorities will get what they deserve from the people,” Kakka Kukava, an opposition member of Parliament, told journalists, according to the Interfax news agency.

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[ 07 November 2007: Message edited by: Frustrated Mess ]