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Georgia president replaces defense chief

(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-08-28 01:53

TBILISI: President Mikhail Saakashvili replaced his defense chief Thursday for the second time since Georgia's war with Russia a year ago, saying the country needed a stronger hand to rebuild its routed military.

Saakashvili suggested the outgoing minister, Vasil Sikharulidze, had not done enough to restore Georgia's strength. The president named a 29-year-old deputy defense minister and former prisons chief, Bachana Akhalaia, as the replacement.

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Sikharulidze "played a big role in working out a new defense concept, but I cannot yet give a positive evaluation to the state of the armed forces," Saakashvili said in televised comments.

"We need a stronger hand," Saakashvili said. He appointed Sikharulidze, a former ambassador to Washington, as a foreign policy adviser.

Sikharulidze was appointed last December, replacing the minister who served during Georgia's humiliating five-day war against Russia in August 2008.