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Georgia's top defense officers arrested in attempted coup

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2009-05-06 00:10

TBILISI - Several top Georgian Defense Ministry officials were arrested on Tuesday for an attempted coup, which ended without violence after most mutineers surrendered, officials said.

Georgian tanks approach the mutinous Mukhrovani army base, some 10 km (6 miles) east of Tbilisi, May 5, 2009. [Agencies]

"It's over. Most of the people have surrendered," Interior Ministry spokesman Shota Utiashvili said.

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Georgian officials said servicemen of an armored cavalry battalion based in Mukhrovani, 30 km from Tbilisi, mutinied earlier in the day. President Mikhail Saakashvili viewed the mutiny as "a very serious incident," according to the Interfax news agency.

Defense Minister David Sikharulidze said the mutiny had been planned "on a broader scale" and was aimed at foiling the planned NATO exercise in Georgia.

"The general objective was to topple the government with an armed revolt," he added.

Officials of the Defense and the Interior Ministries were at the scene to negotiate with the mutineers at the base.

"They know about our proposal," he said, adding all commanders in Mukhrovani involved in the mutiny had been dismissed from their posts.

Utiashvili, the Interior Ministry spokesman, said the organizers were former high-ranking Defense Ministry officials.

"The preliminary investigation materials showed that the plot was coordinated with the Russians and was aimed at disrupting the NATO training scheduled to take place in Georgia on May 6," he said.

Georgian officials said one organizer of the coup is Giya Gvaladze, head of the special task unit Delta in the 1990s, while another is Koba Kobaladze, who was previously reported by Interfax as Koba Otaradze.

Kobaladze has been detained on suspicion of co-organizing the military mutiny, Interfax reported, citing local Imedi TV.

The arrested officers will be charged with planning a coup and involvement in the Russian special services, Utiashvili said.

The uprising unit has been confined to barracks, according to Utiashvili.

A video seized by the Interior Ministry showed Gvaladze talking to his followers about the coup planned for Thursday.

"The Russians will come to help us, a total of 5,000 people, who intend to liquidate such leaders as Interior Minister Vano Merabishvili," Gvaladze said in the video, according to Interfax.

"If the coup is a success, Georgia will reunite with Russia," Gvaladze said in the video, adding that elections would be held in Georgia if the coup succeeds.

Russia has denied accusations of involvement in the coup, the Itar-Tass news agency reported, citing a source in the Russian security services.

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