Georgia says it halts army mutiny (tank battalion)

Source: Forbes

Georgia said hundreds of rebellious soldiers surrendered Tuesday after a brief mutiny the government described at first as part of a plot to disrupt NATO exercises that have angered Russia.

But Georgian authorities swiftly backed down from initial allegations of a Russian-backed bid to overthrow the government, and details of what they described as a daylong standoff at a tank battalion headquarters near the capital were shrouded in uncertainty. The reported mutiny deepened roiling political tension in a nation at the heart of persistent discord between Moscow and the West.


Around midday, Defense Minister David Sikharulidze said he had been barred from entering a military base in Mukhrovani, about 20 miles (30 kilometers) from Tbilisi, and that the tank battalion's 500 personnel announced that they would refuse to follow orders. A number of civilians had joined the mutineers, he said.

Hours later, the Interior Ministry said the several hundred soldiers and officers at the base had handed over their weapons and surrendered after speaking to Saakashvili, who suggested that force could be used against them. They were bused to another military base for questioning, officials said.

Read more: http://www.forbes.com/feeds/ap/2009/05/05/ap6380230.html

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Frickin' D.A.T. s :grr:

Whew!

:crazy:
rocktivity

Source: Wall Street Journal

President Mikheil Saakashvili said the uprising had been a serious threat and implied it was backed by Russia, an accusation Russia's envoy to NATO, Dmitry Rogozin, called "mad."

"A group of former national guard officers and former military officers, whose links with one country's special services we were aware of for already a long time, tried to stage disorders in the Mukhrovani base," Mr. Saakashvili said in televised remarks.

Georgia's interior ministry initially said the rebellion was part of a Russian-backed coup attempt but later backed away from the assertion.
"This was an attempt to undermine NATO exercises planned for tomorrow; it was not a coup attempt as its scale was so small," Georgian interior ministry spokesman Shota Utiashvili said in a telephone interview. "The situation is now under control, and the authorities are questioning those involved." He didn't say how the rebels had planned to undermine the North Atlantic Treaty Organization exercises.

Interior Minister Vano Merabishvili later said in televised comments that "all the mutineers have either surrendered or been arrested." He said more than 500 soldiers were on the base at the time of the uprising, but it was unclear how many had taken part in the mutiny.

The exercises, which Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has criticized as "muscle flexing," will comprise war games through June 3 involving 1,300 troops from more than a dozen NATO countries. Western-leaning Georgia, which lost a five-day war with Russia over its breakaway region of South Ossetia in August, aspires to join NATO. Moscow opposes the alliance's expansion in the region. 

 


Read more: http://online.wsj.com/article/SB124151604760586903.html?