Untitled Document
The leader of the Georgian opposition Labor Party said on Thursday that the grenade
attack on U.S. President Bush in Tbilisi on May 10 was prepared and staged by
Georgia’s secret services in a bid to improve the image of Georgian President
Saakashvili and present him as a staunch fighter for democracy.
“On the basis of the analysis of the information I had received I want to
announce for the whole world that the May 10 terrorist attack against Bush was
carried out by Saakashvili’s special services in order to salvage the destroyed
image of the dictatorship,” Russia’s RIA-Novosti news agency quoted
Shalva Natelashvili as saying.
“By this Saakashvili wanted to make the media mention his name along
with the U.S. president’s name as a man who fights for democracy and who
is a victim of terrorism,” Natelashvili said.
The politician claimed that the suspected attacker, Vladimir Arutunyan, has
been an agent of Georgia’s special services for many years and got his
weapons from them.
After presenting this theory Natelashvili said that he would demand that Georgian
investigators are not allowed to handle the case and that Arutunyan is handed
over to American justice.
Vladimir Arutunyan was detained in Tbilisi on July 20 and charged with terrorism
on July 26. He has pleaded guilty to tossing a hand grenade at the stage during
George Bush’s public speech in Tbilisi on May 10. The grenade did not
explode because it was wrapped too tightly in a handkerchief and the impact
was too light to set off the primer.
