Georgia accuses Russia of coup attempt

NY Times:

Georgia said Tuesday that it had foiled a Russian-backed plot against the government as tensions rose a day before the scheduled start of NATO military exercises.

Georgian forces surrounded a tank unit that it accused of being involved in the plot and President Mikheil Saakashvili entered the base to negotiate the unit’s surrender. In a televised address, Mr. Saakashvili said the plot was an attempt by Russia to derail the planned exercises, which he called a “symbolic event.”

“We have information that the Russian Federation wants to exacerbate the situation in Georgia,” Mr. Saakashvili said. “We are asking our northern neighbor to refrain from any provocations.”

Russian officials denied any role in the unrest. Alexei Pavlov, a spokesman for President Dmitri A. Medvedev, called the accusations “too stupid for us to comment on.”

“We don’t consider it necessary to respond to these accusations,” he said. “Georgia is constantly accusing us of something. It doesn’t matter what. All of the internal problems in Georgia are blamed on Russia.”

Details of the alleged plot were murky Tuesday afternoon. Georgia released a series of videos in which Gia Ghvaladze, a former major in the Georgian special forces, was shown trying to recruit assistance in overthrowing Mr. Saakashvili’s government on behalf of Russia. Mr. Ghvaladze was arrested Monday night on charges of organizing a military mutiny, according to police.

According to the video, a commander at the Mukhrovani tank battalion, Col. Koba Otanadze, had offered to supply tanks and heavy armor. A statement from the Interior Ministry said Mr. Otanadze had organized a previous mutiny at the same base eight years ago.

...

I doubt that Russia was behind the coup attempt, but I am sure they would have taken advantage of it, were it successful. The plotters seem rather inept. Georgia's government seems to have been aware of the plot early on and was able to get video of its formation. That video should be interesting to any court that tries the plotters.