Arrest of Russian 'spies' in Georgia escalates tensions (Roundup)

Sep 29, 2006, 3:13 GMT

Moscow - Russia threatened its southern neighbour Georgia with retaliation Thursday after the former Soviet republic arrested four Russian military intelligence officers 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 of the arrests made Wednesday evening, the Itar-Tass news agency reported in Moscow.

Russian nationalists called for the military to be mobilized to rescue the officers, but Ivanov said his country's reaction to the situation would be 'adequate and sensible.'

Russia on Thursday recalled its ambassador to Georgia and called for an emergency session of the UN Security Council in New York.

Georgian forces had surrounded the Russian Army headquarters in Tbilisi, searching for another Russian military officer implicated, authorities said. Russia was preparing to evacuate the families of embassy personnel in the Georgian capital on Friday.

Defence Minister Irakli Okruashvili said his country had video footage of Russian military agents trying to enlist locals in an attempt to spy on the cooperation between Gerogia and NATO.

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 seven Russian soldiers.

Ten or 11 Georgian citizens in Tbilisi were also taken in on suspicion of collaborating with Russian intelligence.

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 stationed in the country, 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.