Rebels, Loyalists Gird for Tbilisi Showdown : Georgia: Use of heavy weapons may intensify fighting. Embattled leader appeals for Western support.

TBILISI, Georgia —  Rebels set up artillery batteries while forces loyal to besieged President Zviad Gamsakhurdia countered with armor and reinforcements Tuesday as the bloody power struggle in the capital of this former Soviet republic threatened to intensify and spread.

The introduction of heavy weapons raised the stakes in the battle now entering its second week. Both sides have warned that the conflict could soon develop into a full-fledged civil war throughout the republic.

Until recently, nearly all the fighting has been centered in the blocks surrounding the government building on Rustaveli Prospekt, the main street of Tbilisi.

More than a week of fighting has left nearly 60 people dead and 300 wounded, according to the Georgia Health Ministry. Other sources put the death toll higher.

The battles have left Tbilisi in ruins, with telephone connections near impossible, air traffic at a standstill and frequent power blackouts.

Opposition forces led by intellectuals and rebel national guardsmen accuse Gamsakhurdia of trying to establish a dictatorship since his landslide election in May. Gamsakhurdia, vowing to fight until the end, has taken refuge in the basement of the Parliament building since Dec. 22.

The embattled president appealed to Western leaders on Tuesday to support his government and to call the “leaders of the putsch to account.”

Gamsakhurdia has strong support outside the capital, and pro-government units arrived Tuesday from the countryside to back the 500 to 1,000 loyalists guarding the president. The reinforcements were accompanied by a T-55 tank and an armored personnel carrier.

Rebel troops, meanwhile, moved two 122-millimeter howitzers into position in the streets of Tbilisi and readied rocket-propelled grenades. A mortar was positioned nearby.

Some sniper fire was heard, but the city was generally calm Tuesday. Many shop windows were smashed or marked by bullet holes. One store was strung with holiday decorations.

Rebel leaders are debating whether to make a final assault on the Parliament, but they claim they have already pushed Gamsakhurdia to the brink of defeat. Both sides worry that the fighting could widen in Tbilisi and spill out into the countryside.

Opposition leader Dzhaba Ioseliani said he opposes storming Gamsakhurdia’s stronghold.

“Why do we need to push? There are young boys there. So it takes another few days, 10 days, but he has lost--period,” he said.

Ioseliani said he has gathered 600 fighters and that an additional 70 arrived Tuesday.

On Monday, another rebel leader, Georgy Chanturia, who had been jailed by Gamsakhurdia, said that more than 1,000 Georgian veterans of the Soviet war in Afghanistan were considering joining the opposition. The veterans were angered by the arrest on Sunday of their organization’s leader, Nodar Georgadze.

“(On Monday) when one of our boys was killed, my heart told me we had to finish this off,” Chanturia said. “But if you stop and think about it, (Gamsakhurdia) has lost already, so why take the risk? . . . We don’t need reinforcements. We could finish this today, but a high price would have to be paid.”

The unrest in Georgia has left the South Carolina-sized state of 5.4 million residents in political disarray as the 11 other former Soviet republics work on developing the new Commonwealth of Independent States.

Except for the three Baltic states, Georgia is the only former Soviet republic not to join the commonwealth. Members of the commonwealth have agreed not to consider its membership until the fighting ends, and Russian President Boris N. Yeltsin has ordered former Soviet troops under his control to leave Georgia.