SHEVARDNADZE REVOKES IMMUNITY FOR DIPLOMAT INVOLVED IN CRASH.

Byline: Steven Lee Myers The New York Times

President Eduard Shevardnadze of the Republic of Georgia announced Friday that his government was prepared to take the unusual step of waiving diplomatic immunity for a senior Georgian diplomat involved in an auto accident that killed a girl a week ago in downtown Washington, D.C.

The decision, announced by Shevardnadze in Tbilisi, Georgia's capital, and by its embassy in Washington, reversed a decision made Thursday to invoke diplomatic immunity and recall the diplomat, Gueorgui Makharadze.

Thursday's decision to withdraw Makharadze prompted Secretary of State Warren Christopher to deliver a personal appeal to Shevardnadze. Aides, meanwhile, summoned Georgia's ambassador to the State Department to make a formal request for a waiver, and other officials called reporters' attention to the fact that Makharadze, 35, was evidently preparing to leave the country.

Makharadze will remain in the United States until the investigation into the accident is completed, Shevardnadze said in a statement.

The embassy said in a statement that Georgia's government had reconsidered the decision because of Christopher's appeal, even though it believed that the initial decision to recall the diplomat ``followed the nearly universal practice of the international community.''

``Georgia has acceded to the deep concerns of the United States as expressed by Secretary of State Christopher to President Shevardnadze,'' the statement read, ``and therefore is prepared to waive immunity in this case in the interest of U.S.-Georgian relations and on moral and ethical grounds.''

The White House and the State Department welcomed the announcement by Shevardnadze, who has a close relationship with the United States dating to his days as foreign minister of the Soviet Union under Mikhail Gorbachev. Nicholas Burns, the department spokesman, called it ``a courageous step.''

``It's also highly unusual, in modern diplomacy, for a head of state to take a step like this,'' Burns said. ``But given the emotions in the United States, given the feelings of the family and the local community here in Washington, D.C., we think it's the appropriate step for the government of Georgia to take.''

Although Shevardnadze stopped short of formally granting a waiver, the announcement cleared the way for the U.S. attorney in Washington, Eric Holder Jr., to press ahead with an investigation.

Holder's office has already informed the State Department that there was ample evidence to charge Makharadze.