TBILISI -- A leading member of Georgia's opposition United National Movement party has been found dead in his apartment in Tbilisi.

Media reports said on December 4 that the preliminary cause of Nikoloz Rurua's death was a heart attack.

The 50-year-old politician was a close associate of former President Mikheil Saakashvili, who became president after leading a bloodless revolution that forced Eduard Shevardnadze to step down in November 2003.

Rurua became a lawmaker after Saakashvili came to power and served as Georgia's Culture Minister between 2009 and 2012.