TBILISI, September 1 (RIA Novosti) - Georgia's largest independent TV channel Imedi resumed news broadcasts on Monday, 10 months after it was temporarily shut down amid mass anti-government protests.

The channel, founded by the late Georgian billionaire Badri Patarkatsishvili, had resumed partial broadcasts in early May this year, but without news coverage.

Under the new schedule, the channel will broadcast news bulletins every two hours, using presenters from the Mze entertainment channel, which suspended its news programs in late June.

Imedi TV was first shut down on November 7 last year, after being accused by the government of inciting violence during street protests against President Mikheil Saakashvili. The channel's property was later confiscated, and its license suspended.

Patarkatsishvili, who financed the opposition and had planned to run in the January 5 presidential polls which returned Saakashvili to power, died in February this year at his home near London.

The channel resumed broadcasts on December 12, but was closed down two weeks later pending a probe into the company's legal status.

Imedi is now owned by Patarkatsishvili's cousin Joseph Kay, a U.S. national. Kay has denied opposition allegations of turning the channel into a government mouthpiece.

Patarkatsishvili's widow Inna Gudavadze filed a lawsuit with a New York court in April saying Kay's claim to a 70% interest in the channel was illegal.