Georgia Witnesses Mutiny
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Georgian soldiers leave the Mukhrovani military base after putting down the mutiny by a tank battalion.
Georgia Tuesday witnessed a ‘short-lived’ mutiny by the 500-member tank battalion at the Mukhrovani military base, about 20 miles east of Tbilisi. Former Special Forces commander Gia Gvaladze and Koba Kobaladze, who served as commander of the National Guard until February 2004, were accused of organizing the uprising. Both have been arrested, the Interior Ministry said.
President Mikheil Saakashvili has blamed Russia for his troubles in an effort to undermine NATO war games set to begin in Georgia on Wednesday. He called the uprising ‘a serious threat and a serious challenge’, but termed it as isolated.
Saakashvili also said the mutineers had "connections with Special Forces in a specific country known to us. ‘I am asking and demanding from our northern neighbor to refrain from provocations’, he said in a televised address.
But Interior Ministry spokesman Shota Utiashvili said in an interview that there was no concrete evidence so far of Russian involvement. "We don't have direct evidence for the moment," he conceded.
‘What happened today is just a signal that the war has not ended yet’, said Alexander Rondeli, president of the Georgian Foundation for Strategic and International Studies.
President Mikheil Saakashvili has blamed Russia for his troubles in an effort to undermine NATO war games set to begin in Georgia on Wednesday. He called the uprising ‘a serious threat and a serious challenge’, but termed it as isolated.
Saakashvili also said the mutineers had "connections with Special Forces in a specific country known to us. ‘I am asking and demanding from our northern neighbor to refrain from provocations’, he said in a televised address.
But Interior Ministry spokesman Shota Utiashvili said in an interview that there was no concrete evidence so far of Russian involvement. "We don't have direct evidence for the moment," he conceded.
‘What happened today is just a signal that the war has not ended yet’, said Alexander Rondeli, president of the Georgian Foundation for Strategic and International Studies.
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