Interior Minister Vano Merabishvili told reporters that Georgia has had traditionally active cooperation with U.S. law enforcement and intelligence services and hopes to deepen and strengthen contacts.
His trip began a day after the Georgian parliament approved a plan by President Mikheil Saakashvili to merge the Interior Ministry with the State Security Ministry.
Saakashvili ordered the shake-up last month, saying it was necessary because of alleged conspiracies facing the country.
He did not elaborate, but many saw his comments as a reference to separatist movements in two Georgian regions -- Abkhazia and South Ossetia -- which became de facto independent after wars in the early 1990s. Saakashvili has vowed to reassert central control over both regions.
(AP)
His trip began a day after the Georgian parliament approved a plan by President Mikheil Saakashvili to merge the Interior Ministry with the State Security Ministry.
Saakashvili ordered the shake-up last month, saying it was necessary because of alleged conspiracies facing the country.
He did not elaborate, but many saw his comments as a reference to separatist movements in two Georgian regions -- Abkhazia and South Ossetia -- which became de facto independent after wars in the early 1990s. Saakashvili has vowed to reassert central control over both regions.
(AP)
