Shaken Georgian leaders have made a plea for calm after Prime Minister Zurab Zhvania was found dead in a friend’s apartment, a blow to President Mikhail Saakashvili’s ambitious pledges to wipe out corruption and resolve two simmering separatist conflicts.

Georgian Prime Minister Zurab Zhvania, who helped lead the revolution that toppled the corruption-tainted regime of Eduard Shevardnadze, died today from what officials said apparently was a gas leak from a heater.

Georgian Prime Minister Zurab Zhvania was killed early today by an apparent gas leak, the interior minister said.