Free Republic

Georgia’s interior minister said a man who admitted throwing a live grenade toward US President George Bush during a rally in the ex-Soviet nation was acting alone and had no links to any foreign special services. Interior Minister Vano Merabishvili said Vladimir Arutyunian, who was indicted in September by a US grand jury on charges of trying to assassinate the president, will face trial in Georgia soon. “Arutyunian was a terrorist acting alone,” Merabishvili told the 24 Hours newspaper. Arutyunian faces terrorism and murder charges in Georgia stemming from the May 10 incident in Tbilisi and the killing of...

Tbilisi Officials Name Street After Bush 14,11:47 AM ET TBILISI, Georgia - City officials in the Georgian capital of Tbilisi voted Wednesday to rename a street in honor of President Bush, who was met by enthusiastic crowds here in May but also escaped an apparent attempt on his life. "George Bush is doing a lot for the development of democracy in the world and is helping Georgia with its democratic transformation. And we are proud that one of Tbilisi's streets will carry his name," said Mayor Gigi Ugulava. The measure passed 29-12, with opposition lawmakers in the assembly voting against...

TBILISI, Georgia — A man who confessed to throwing a live grenade toward President Bush during a rally in Georgia intended its shrapnel to hit the area where the president and others were standing, the suspect said video footage broadcast Saturday. "I threw the grenade, not directly at where there was bulletproof glass, but toward the heads ... so that the shrapnel would fly behind the bulletproof glass, you understand?" Vladimir Arutyunian said. Bush and Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili (search) were on a podium protected with bulletproof glass at a massive rally in Tbilisi in May when the grenade was...

The man believed to have thrown a hand grenade in Freedom Square while U.S. President George Bush was delivering a speech on May 10 was arrested late July 20 in a Ministry of Internal Affairs special operation in which the suspect was shot and a ministry official killed. Speaking at a late night briefing, Minister of Internal Affairs Vano Merabishvili said that the suspect, 27-year-old Vladimer Arutunov, opened fire on three policemen sent to locate him and that as a result the Head of the Anti-terrorism Center Zurab Kvlividze was killed and Arutunov injured. Arutunov, alternatively identified as Vova Arutinian,...

Georgian police have announced the arrest of a 27-year-old ethnic Armenian suspected of throwing a live hand grenade in the direction of the Georgian and U.S. presidents during a high-profile public appearance in Tbilisi in May. The suspect, Vladimir Arutyunian, was captured overnight following a shootout that claimed the life of a senior police officer who specialized in counterintelligence. The final stage of Arutyunian's capture was broadcast live on Georgia's main television channels. Addressing reporters during an impromptu news briefing, Interior Minister Ivane Merabishvili said Arutyunian was apprehended in the Vashlijvari suburb of the Georgian capital Tbilisi. Arutyunian resisted arrest,...

A street protest in central Tbilisi touched off a sequence of events that resulted in a furious debate in Georgia’s parliament -- punctuated by a fist-fight among MPs – over the governing methods of President Mikheil Saakashvili’s administration. A June 30 court Tbilisi court decision -- in which Aleko Davitashvili, president of the Georgian Wrestling Federation, his brother, Davit, along with Georgian judo champion Giorgi Revazishvili, were sentenced to three months of pre-trial detention on blackmailing charges – sparked the unrest in the capital. The trio was arrested on June 28 for allegedly blackmailing Greek businessman Vili Iordanov for $8,000....

Grenade at Bush Speech Brings Speculation By MISHA DZHINDHIKHASHVILI Associated Press Writer TBILISI, Georgia (AP) -- Was it a bid to undermine a visit by President Bush - or evidence of a real assassination plot? A grenade found near a stage where Bush addressed crowds of Georgians on Tuesday has set off a flurry of speculation. The array of potential culprits - from disgruntled Georgians to local minorities and even Russian saboteurs - reflects the instability of a volatile country struggling through transition. The address to tens of thousands of people in Tbilisi's Freedom Square was the centerpiece of a...

The city center in this former Soviet Republic was spruced up for President Bush's arrival Monday, with locals hoping the international attention he has brought will help revive the tourism that suffered under political unrest. Bush, the first U.S. president to visit Georgia, was greeted by giant billboards bearing his image, U.S. flags and freshly painted buildings and paved roads. Those roads were emptied, as police shooed pedestrians away for security. Few complained. "When the leader of today's free world turns his attention to you, you should be proud," said Katya Chichua, 50, who watched workers lay colorful Oriental rugs...

As growing concerns about dwindling global reserves help maintain oil prices close to the $50 a barrel mark, a major supply route linking newly developed oil and gas fields in the Caspian Sea with western markets is due to be opened. The pipeline is expected to spark an economic boom in Baku Within the next few weeks, oil from the Caspian will start flowing into a 1,762 kilometres long pipeline. The pipeline will run from Baku, the capital of Azerbaijan, via near Tbilisi, the capital of Georgia, and across eastern Turkey to the port of Ceyhan, on Turkey's Mediterranean coast....

DERNIERE MINUTE: 07h01 - the Prime Minister géorgien was found died in an apartment in Tbilissi Zourab Jvania discovered was died, apparently poisoned with gas, in the apartment of a friend in whom it was, announced the Minister of Interior Department géorgien, Nano Merabihvili.(AFP)

<p>Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda network has become deeply involved in international drug trafficking, using the money to buy arms and, possibly, radioactive material for use in a so-called "dirty" nuclear bomb, senior U.S. officials say.</p> <p>The seizure earlier this month of boats carrying heroin and hashish, and operated by al Qaeda-linked persons, has brought to light an al Qaeda drug operation that has grown tremendously since the September 11 attacks, the sources say.</p>

TBILISI (Reuters) - An explosion rocked the state television center in Georgian capital Tbilisi on Wednesday, in what the new government said was an attempt to disrupt elections scheduled to replace the overthrown president. "There are some forces in Georgia which are interested in bringing panic to this society, but I want to tell our society that we new leaders won't allow it," Georgia's interim president, Nino Burdzhanadze, told state television. "We will be able to hold normal presidential elections in January." The state security ministry said the explosion had been powerful but that there were no casualties. State television,...

Tbilisi. (Interfax) - Georgia's independent television channel Rustavi-2 reported that Russian businessman Boris Berezovsky, who currently resides in London, arrived in Tbilisi from Britain early Wednesday morning. Berezovsky was met at the airport by his friend, Georgian businessman Badri Patarkatsishvili, Rustavi-2 reported. Spokesman for the Georgian Border Department Shalva Lontaridze confirmed to the press that Berezovsky arrived in Tbilisi from London last night on a plane owned by Patarkatsishvili. He also said that Berezovsky was cleared through the customs with a passport under the name of Elenin Platon. At 5 a.m., following a meeting with Patarkatsishvili, Berezovsky left Tbilisi...

On Foxnews Now

<p>TBILISI, Georgia (CNN) -- Georgian demonstrators are maintaining an all night vigil outside the nation's parliament after a state of emergency was declared by President Eduard Shevardnadze.</p> <p>Tens of thousands of Georgians are demanding Shevardnadze's resignation and parliamentary speaker and leading opposition figure Nino Burdzhanadze appeared on television to declare herself an interim leader.</p>

TBILISI, Georgia (AP) - The opposition seized Georgia's parliament Saturday, chasing out President Eduard Shevardnadze and declaring an interim government as tens of thousands of supporters thronged the streets of the capital. Shevardnadze, backed by his head of police, declared a state of emergency. Shevardnadze has long claimed that he is key to maintaining stability in the Caucasus region, located on strategically vital oil routes. Georgia's rugged mountains have provided shelter for insurgents fighting in neighboring Chechnya, and the United States has helped train Georgian military forces to try to uproot them. Facing a possible confrontation with the army and...

Opposition supporters in Georgia have seized the parliament building in the capital Tbilisi after weeks of protests over disputed elections. Crowds led by main opposition leader Mikhail Saakashvili broke into the building as parliament convened. Nino Burjanadze, outgoing speaker of parliament, says she has become interim president. President Eduard Shevardnadze has condemned the events as a "coup" and declared a state of emergency. Pressure has been mounting on the 75-year-old president to resign since the 2 November parliamentary elections, won by his party and its allies despite the country's economic crisis. I will not resign Eduard Shevardnadze He was addressing...

Troops sent into Tbilisi as civil war fears rise By Julius Strauss in Tbilisi (Filed: 12/11/2003) Georgia inched closer to civil war last night as interior ministry troops were ordered into the heart of the capital, Tbilisi, and President Eduard Shevardnadze denounced opposition leaders. Outside parliament thousands of angry protesters gathered for a fourth day, swearing defiance. Many were waving images of St George, their patron saint. A source close to the president said: "Considering the hot mood around the country, it's possible there will be a second civil war." The country slipped into civil war in the early 1990s....