Georgian and Ukrainian [2] troops neutralized simulated suicide bombers and a "mock mob" at Vaziani military base near Georgia's capital Tbilisi May 31, rounding up month-long NATO [3]-led military exercises that have angered Russia. Troops from two other members of members of NATO's Partnership for Peace program—Macedonia [4] and Bosnia [5]—also participated. (AP [6], May 31)
As the exercises got underway in early May, Georgia claimed to have foiled a Russian-backed plot to stage a military coup. A tank battalion apparently mutinied at a base in Mukhrovani, 20 miles east of Tbilisi, and the Defense Ministry ordered the base sealed off. President Mikheil Saakashvili was also at that moment facing a sustained protest campaign from opposition parties demanding his resignation. (London Times [7], May 5)
See our last posts on Georgia [8] and the struggle for the Caucasus [9].
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