TBILISI -- One of President Eduard Shevardnadze's closest aides was found shot in his office on Monday in an apparent suicide the Georgian leader said resulted from the "Psychological terrorism" waged against him by the opposition.

Nukzar Sadzhaya, 62, died of his wounds while being rushed to hospital, officials said. He was the head of the Security Council, a post he held since its creation in 1995.

His death came a week after the opposition accused him of organizing a series of murders of top politicians in the mid-1990s and plotting to kill the former Soviet Republic's first President, Zviad Gamsakhurdia, in 1993, AFP reported.

Sadzhaya had denied the accusations and enjoyed support from Shevardnadze who spoke out on his behalf, calling him a "true patriot."

Shevardnadze, who rushed to the hospital to be at Sadzhaya's side on Monday, blasted the opposition for waging "psychological terrorism" against Sadzhaya.

"In the 30 years that we had worked together, Sadzhaya proved himself to be a loyal and honest man," Shevardnadze told reporters.

A Georgian deputy said he saw the security chief earlier in the day and that Sadzhaya had spent the morning reading through the day's newspapers, in which some of the allegations about the assassinations appeared.

The lawmaker, who refused to be identified, said that Sazhaya had shot himself with a pistol that was issued to him by the government.

Investigators suspect that Sadzhaya committed suicide, but an inquiry has been opened and security stepped up in central Tbilisi.