Tuesday, May 05, 2009

Georgia 'Uncovers Military Coup'

Georgia 'Uncovers Military Coup'
(NSI News Source Info) May 5, 2009: Georgia has uncovered an attempted military coup, the country's defence minister says. David Sikharulidze said the rebellion was centred around the Mukhrovani military base. It was not immediately clear whether the supposed coup had already been launched, or whether the government had just disrupted an alleged plot. The announcement was made just a day before controversial Nato military exercises are due to begin in Georgia. The interior ministry told the BBC that the plotters wanted to destabilise Georgia and assassinate President Mikhail Saakashvili. A spokesman said there had been one arrest, but that the leader of the plot - a former chief of special forces - was still at large. The spokesman said the government had been aware of the plot for two months. "It was aimed at disrupting the Nato military exercises and an attempt at a military coup," Defence Minister Sikharulidze told Georgian TV. An interior ministry spokesman said the rebellion appeared to be "co-ordinated with Russia". Georgia and Russia have poisonous relations, and fought a war over Georgia's breakaway territory of South Ossetia last August. Russia's President Dmitry Medvedev has condemned Nato for planning military exercises in a country "where there was just a war".

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