Georgia mutiny report seen as suspicious

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By Dan Catchpole THE WASHINGTON TIMES

Georgia claimed Tuesday to have put down a mutiny at a military base outside the capital, but its timing suggested a possible ploy by President Mikhail Saakashvili to draw attention away from popular protests against his rule.

The Georgian Interior Ministry said the government put down the mutiny at Mukhrovani military base late Monday and arrested its purported leader, Gia Ghvaladze, a former major in a paramilitary unit.

A senior U.S. State Department official, who spoke on the condition he not be named, said the coup appeared to have been foiled while still in its planning stages and would not affect NATO exercises with Georgia that began Wednesday. At the same time, he urged Georgians to "engage in serious negotiations to get [reforms] going."

The announcement about the mutiny followed three weeks of demonstrations in the capital, Tbilisi, in April in which thousands of demonstrators demanded the president's resignation.

On Wednesday, police beat protesters with truncheons in the first major outbreak of violence in a month.

Television footage showed at least two opposition leaders and several other people with blood on their bodies and clothing. A top opposition leader, Levan Gachechiladze, and other protesters appeared to have head injuries, the Associated Press reported.

Western disquiet with Mr. Saakashvili that has been growing since his government violently broke up similar demonstrations in 2007 and especially since he became embroiled in a brief war with Russia last year.

Aggressive moves toward Russia that led to a Russian invasion of Georgia raised questions in the U.S. and Europe about the Georgian's judgment and dedication to democracy.

The war frayed relations between Georgia and its Western allies, said Kakha Kukava, leader of Georgia's New Conservative Party, part of the opposition alliance.

Relations have not been helped by the election of Barack Obama as U.S. president in November. Mr. Saakashvili had made no secret of his support for his friend, the Republican candidate, Sen. John McCain of Arizona.