Georgia strips citizenship from former president Saakashvili

Moscow (dpa) - The former Soviet republic of Georgia has revoked the citizenship of ex-president Mikheil Saakashvili, the office of the current head of state said Friday.Saakashvili, who fought a disastrous five-day war with Russia in 2008, is currently the governor of Ukraine‘s Odessa region and vowed in a June interview with the BBC to give up his Georgian citizenship to take up the post.He told the BBC that Georgia‘s government wanted to put him in jail on politically motivated charges. The BBC said he has been accused of abuse of power.Saakashvili‘s Georgian citizenship was taken away by a presidential decree, citing his acquisition of citizenship of another country, according to the statement posted on the website of the current president, Giorgi Margvelashvili.Saakashvili was appointed Odessa‘s governor in late May by Ukrainian President Petro Poroshenko, who has been battling a pro-Russian separatist rebellion in the country‘s two eastern-most regions since last year.Georgia lost two regions following the 2008 war with Russia. The regions, backed by Russia, declared themselves independent states.