Detentions of 'spies' in Georgia escalate tensions with Russia

Sep 28, 2006, 15:13 GMT

Moscow - Russia's tense relations with neighbouring Georgia deteriorated further Thursday after the detention in Tbilisi of four Russian military intelligence officers and up to 11 locals accused of spying for Moscow.

Georgia's actions were 'totally arbitrary' and resembled Stalin's reign of terror in 1937, Russian Defence Minister Sergei Ivanov said about the events the previous evening, the Itar-Tass news agency reported in Moscow.

Russia's reaction to the situation would, however, be 'adequate and sensible,' Ivanov said before flying to Slovenia.

Georgian security officials on Wednesday detained four officers of the Russian GRU military intelligence wing who are stationed in the republic.

Reports said two more Russian soldiers were being held in Tbilisi. Ivanov also cited a separate incident in the Georgian port of Batumi where police allegedly assaulted and briefly detained another 7 Russian soldiers.

Ten or eleven Georgian citizens in Tbilisi were also taken in on suspicion of collaborating with Russian intelligence.

Meanwhile, the Russian embassy in the capital reportedly suspended the issue of travel visas to Georgians wishing to visit Russia.

Tensions between the two former Soviet republics have risen steadily since Georgia's pro-Western President Mikheil Saakashvili came to power in 2004.

Moscow traditionally regards the Caucasus republic as being in its sphere of influence and frowns on the efforts of Georgia to turn West, including its application for NATO membership.

There are still around 3,000 Russian troops there, mainly assigned to peacekeeping duties in the break-away Georgian provinces of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.

The provinces are effectively Russian protectorates, although Saakashvili has pledged to reincorporate them into the rest of Georgia.