GEORGIA SAYS IT HALTED ARMY MUTINY
Misha Dzhindzhikhashvili
Associated Press
Tuesday, 5 May 2009
Georgia said it had ended a brief mutiny today at a military base
near the capital and thwarted a plan to disrupt Nato exercises.
The Interior Ministry first announced that the mutiny was part of
a Russia-supported plot to overthrow the government, and that the
suspected organizers had been arrested the night before.
But the ministry later backed off and said the plotters were intent
mainly on disrupting Nato military exercises set to begin Wednesday
in Georgia.
The mutineers handed over their weapons and surrendered after speaking
to President Mikhail Saakashvili, who suggested that force could be
used against them if they refused to give themselves up to police,
an Interior Ministry spokesman said.
Saakashvili said in a televised address that the mutiny was an isolated
case and the situation in the country was fully under control.
"The plan was to have military riots at different places all over
Georgia," Interior Ministry spokesman Shota Utiashvili said. "To make
sure that at the minimum the Nato trainings will not happen and at
the maximum there is a full-scale military riot in the country."
Russia’s Nato envoy Dmitri Rogozin was quoted by the Interfax news
agency as saying the allegations of Russian involvement were "crazy."
An official in Saakashvili’s office said the intent of the mutineers 0D
seemed to be limited to disrupting the upcoming Nato exercises. There
was no evidence, he said, that they planned a coup attempt. Neither
is there any evidence of Russian involvement. He spoke on condition he
not be identified because he was not authorized to speak on the record.
Russia, which fought a brief war against Georgia last year, has sharply
criticized the exercises, which it said would encourage Saakashvili
to rebuild its devastated army.
The Georgian president has been the target of more than three weeks of
street protests by opposition demonstrators demanding he resign. His
government has accused Russians of supporting the opposition.
The official in Saakashvili’s office said the mutiny was inspired by
a small group of disgruntled officers who were involved in a similar
action at the same base in 2001.
Opposition leader and former Saakashvili ally Georgy Khaindrava said
the reports of the planned coup were made up.
"It’s nothing but a tall tale, and we’ve heard so many of them
already," Khaindrava said. "Saakashvili could not make up anything
smarter."
Utiashvili, the Interior Ministry spokesman, had said the suspected
coup plot was organized by a former special forces commander,
Georgy Gvaladze.
Gvaladze and an army officer on active duty have been arrested,
he said.
He also had said the ministry has a video of Gvaladze talking to his
supporters about the planned coup, and that he is=2 0shown saying
that 5,000 Russian troops will come to support the coup, and that it
was planned for Thursday.
A ministry statement released later said Gvaladze was accused of
organizing the military mutiny.
Defense Minister David Sikharulidze said earlier that he had been
blocked from entering the military base in Mukhrovani, about 20 miles
(30 kilometers) from Tbilisi, the capital. The base’s tank battalion
of about 500 army personnel had announced that they would refuse to
follow orders, he said.
Among the mutineers were civilians who had no relation to the
battalion, he said.
The Nato exercises, which continue through June 1, were originally
planned to include about 1,300 personnel from 19 Nato and partner
nations.
But some former Soviet republics have recently decided not to take
part.
Among the countries to back out was Armenia, which is dependent on
Russia for its economic survival. Four other former Soviet republics
— Estonia, Latvia, Kazakhstan and Moldova — and Serbia also had
decided to pull out, the Russian newspaper Vedomosti reported.