Masked men have shot over a crowd of protestors in the western Georgia town of Zugdidi, scattering the marchers and wounding several of them. The protestors were gathered for a political rally of the opposition party Saakashvili-National Movement. They are contesting government results from last Sunday's parliamentary election, which place the party headed by Mikhail Saakashvili in second place behind President Eduard Schevardnadze's "For a New Georgia!" party. Various opposition parties have called on Shevardnadze to resign. They say that the government rigged the election through inaccurate voter lists, ballot-stuffing and intimidation. Mikhail Saakashvili said on Thursday: "With all the violations, the results are not recognised, which we qualify as a usurpation of power, and as a kind of coup d'etat committed by the government with an abuse of power." Both the United States and the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe, which sent election observers to Georgia, say the vote was tainted by irregularities. But they also reported some progress towards full and fair democracy. Western government are watching developments closely because of Georgia's importance in the pipeline project taking Caspian oil to the Mediterranean Sea. **PHOTO CAPTION*** Armed police on patrol in Georgia. (AFP/File/Viktor Drachev)