Former Georgian President Eduard Shevardnadze has died aged 86, media reports say.

Mr Shevardnadze became foreign minister of the Soviet Union in 1985.

In 1992, he was appointed head of state of the newly independent republic of Georgia.

He led the country out of instability and civil war but in November 2003 was toppled in the "Rose Revolution" sparked by opposition allegations of irregularities in parliamentary polls.

Bakudaily.az