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It is now more than three days since Georgian president Mikheil Saakashvili cut short his visit to the UN climate conference in Copenhagen, apparently because he had to return to Georgia to take personal charge of the situation in Kutaisi after the disastrous demolition of the "Memorial of Glory" war memorial killed a mother and her eight year old daughter.

But despite several hints in the state controlled media that a visit is imminent, Saakashvili seems to have been unable or unwilling to go.

It is not as though he has been stuck with work of national importance.

In Sunday he found the time to look at the plans for a 40-story hotel in Batumi and then - as this report from the public television channel suggests - he seems to have found time for a drink with friends to celebrate his 42nd birthday.

Anger in Kutaisi about the demolition and its aftermath is obviously raw. And the city is one where the ruling party has already faced difficulty: so has the president had to wait until things calmed down?