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Georgia says soldiers rebel, accuses Russia

(Agencies)
Updated: 2009-05-05 20:28

Russian anger at NATO games

Russian ITAR-Tass news agency quoted an unnamed Russian security source as rejecting suggestions Moscow was behind the rebellion. "This is a nightmare and an agony for the Saakashvili regime," he said. "One cannot describe this in a different way."

Related readings:  Georgia, US to sign 'strategic' accord  Russia accuses foreign nationals in Georgia war  Moscow: Shooting plotted by Georgia  Russia's Medvedev criticizes US over Georgia Russia-Georgia talks suspended until November

NATO declined to comment. The month-long military exercises from May 6 to June 3 are a gesture of solidarity for Georgia, a country of 4.5 million people at the heart of a region crucial for energy transit from the Caspian Sea to Europe.

Around 1,000 soldiers from more than a dozen NATO member states and partners will practice "crisis response" at a Georgian army base east of Tbilisi, around 70 km (44 miles) from the nearest Russian troop positions in breakaway South Ossetia.

The month-long exercises at a former Russian air force base in Vaziani are seen as a signal from the 28-member alliance that, despite doubts over the promise of eventual membership, Georgia has not been forgotten.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev had said the decision to go ahead with the exercises was mistaken.

"I want to specifically stress that responsibility for possible negative consequences of these decisions will fully rest on the shoulders of those who made them and carry them out," he said on Friday.

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