TBILISI (AFP) -- President Mikheil Saakashvili said Saturday a state of emergency would remain in place in Georgia as long as his government deemed necessary, defying Western calls for it to be lifted immediately.

""The state of emergency will be lifted in the very near future, within the next few days,"" Saakashvili told a meeting of Georgian businessmen shown on state television.
""Not by somebody's recommendation, but when we find it necessary,"" he added. ""We know better what is good for Georgia in the short- and long-term.""
Saakashvili imposed the 15-day state of emergency, which bans public demonstrations and independent newscasts, after violent clashes on Wednesday between police and anti-government protesters in Tbilisi.
He later called a snap presidential election for January 5, which protestors claimed as a victory for their campaign.
Badri Patarkatsishvili, a prominent Georgian businessman who has financed the opposition, announced he will run for the post -- though he added he would stand aside for any candidate who could unite the opposition.
Earlier, the Georgian authorities said Patarkatsishvili, who is believed to be out of the country, was suspected of plotting a coup against Saakashvili and was wanted for questioning.
Pressure has been mounting on the normally pro-Western Saakashvili to lift emergency rule.
In Washington, the State Department said, Matthew Bryza, the U.S. deputy assistant secretary for European and Eurasian affairs would insist on an immediate lifting of emergency rule.
The European Union's envoy to the South Caucasus, Peter Semneby, also called on Georgia Saturday to lift the state of emergency.
""The most important point right now is to look forward and that should involve lifting the state of emergency as soon as possible,"" Semneby told AFP.
Meanwhile, the chairman of pan-European security watchdog OSCE, Miguel Angel Moratinos, welcomed the new timetable for presidential polls but said he would send a special envoy to Georgia to press for a lifting of emergency rule.
Moratinos, also Spain's foreign minister, said he had asked the envoy to ""listen and speak to all sides"" in Tbilisi and ""call for a peaceful and democratic dialogue and the lifting of the state of emergency"".
Allies of Saakashvili met for the first time Saturday with opposition leaders since the state of emergency was declared.
""We discussed the problem of the state of emergency and the fact that the government must lift it as soon as possible and that freedom of the press must be respected, as well as the legal framework to resolve this political crisis,"" David Gamkrelidze of the opposition New Rights party said.
Patarkatsishvili announced his bid for the presidency in a statement issued by the Bell Pottinger Group, a London-based public relations agency.
If elected, he would call a referendum on boosting the parliament's powers, he added.
In his statement, Patarkatsishvili accused Saakashvili of cracking down on democracy in Georgia. He called for an immediate lifting of the state of emergency and for authorities to stop ""politically motivated criminal cases.""
Georgia's parliament endorsed the state of emergency on Friday, but top officials said they expected it to be lifted much sooner than the approved 15 days, which runs out on November 22.
Saakashvili prompted international condemnation when he ordered the state of emergency after riot police used rubber bullets, tear gas and water cannons to disperse thousands of people who had gathered to call for his resignation.
The president said Wednesday's events were part of a coup attempt masterminded by Russia to overthrow his government.