Tensions rise after Georgia uprising

Was it a coup attempt? Was Russia behind it? And will NATO exercises go forward?

Miriam ElderMay 5, 2009 09:17Updated May 30, 2010 11:54

MOSCOW — Georgia said Tuesday it had thwarted a military uprising that was backed by Russia, further throwing the region into turmoil on the eve of NATO war games inside the former Soviet country.

Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili said a mutiny at the Mukhrovani base outside the capital Tbilisi had been put down and though it was a “serious threat,” it was also an isolated one.

Russia had no immediate official reaction to the charges that it had helped organize and finance the plot, but a Kremlin source told the ITAR-Tass news agency that Saakashvili should “see a doctor.”

The NATO exercises due to start in Georgia tomorrow have ratcheted up tensions between Russia and Georgia, who fought a five-day war in August over separatist regions that Moscow has since recognized as independent.

Tensions along the borders remain high, with some 10,000 Russian troops on permanent patrol under a deal signed with the regions, Abkhazia and South Ossetia, last week.

Shota Utiashvili, a spokesman for Georgia’s Interior Ministry, told reporters in Tbilisi that the plot was designed to disrupt the NATO exercises, backing down from earlier Interior Ministry claims that it was a military coup designed to unseat Saakashvili.

Utiashvili said the plot was organized by Georgy Gvaladze, a former special forces commander who was arrested after the ministry caught him on video saying 5,000 Russian troops would enter the country to support the uprising, which was due to erupt nationwide on Thursday.

“They were receiving money from Russia," Utiashvili said. “It seems it was coordinated with Russia.”