A former Georgian special forces commander and a tank battalion commander have been arrested for allegedly organizing an attempted mutiny. But the uprising ended peacefully when most participants surrendered.
Georgian officials say the mutiny began on Tuesday. That's when about 500 members of a tank battalion stationed at a military base in Mukhrovani, about 30 kilometers from Tbilisi, announced they would refuse to follow orders.
The mutineers, however, later handed over their weapons and surrendered. The surrender came after the mutineers spoke with President Mikhail Saakashvili.
Georgia President Mikhail Saakashvili said, "I spoke to one of the organizers of this unrest and I told him that we give them an opportunity to come out to give in to the law enforcement bodies to disarm. And it will be taken into account as an extenuating circumstances."
Authorities say the mutiny was aimed at foiling planned NATO military exercises scheduled to begin on Wednesday in Georgia.
And that the general objective of the uprising was to topple the government with an armed revolt.
Georgia says its investigation shows the plot was coordinated with Russia.
But Russia has denied any involvement in the attempted mutiny.
Ties between Russia and NATO have come under renewed strain since NATO announced it would hold military exercises in Georgia.
The exercises were originally planned to include over 1,000 personnel from 19 NATO and partner nations.
But some member states have recently decided not to take part.
(CCTV May 6, 2009)
