FBI says Bush rally grenade could have exploded
An agent for the US FBI said today that a grenade found near the podium in the Georgian capital where US President George Bush gave a speech last week had been thrown and was live but apparently failed to explode due to a malfunction.
The statement by Bryan Paarmann, the FBI attache at the US Embassy, contradicted initial reports by Georgian officials that the grenade was not in condition to explode and that it had been found on the ground rather than thrown.
He also said it was a hand grenade, whereas initial Georgian statements said it appeared to have been a so-called “engineering grenade,” a device that is not designed to spread shrapnel.
“This hand grenade appears to be a live device that simply failed to function due to a light strike on the blasting cap induced by a slow deployment of the spool activation device,” he said in a statement.
Paarmann said the grenade landed about 100 feet from the podium where Bush was speaking.
He said the grenade was wrapped in a dark plaid handkerchief when it was thrown.
“We consider this act to be a threat against the health and welfare of the President of the US and the President of Georgia as well as the welfare of the multitudes of Georgian people who had turned out for this event,” Paarmann said.
Bush spoke to tens of thousands of people in Freedom Square, a main plaza in Tbilisi, the Georgian capital, on May 10. The crowd response was overwhelmingly favourable and Bush spoke in strong support of Georgia’s efforts at democratic development following the Rose Revolution of 2003.
Security measures at the square were extensive, including metal detectors, but some people were observed getting access without passing through the detectors.
Bush spoke from behind bulletproof glass and US officials said last week that he hadn’t been in danger.
“Obviously, we’ve learned more since,” White House spokesman Scott McClellan said today.
No arrests have been made in the case and police have appealed to the public to offer photos and videotapes that may contain information on the perpetrator. The Interior Ministry is offering a reward of £6,000 for information in the case. Georgian and US investigators are continuing to examine the grenade, he said.
Paarmann’s statement did not specify the make of the grenade. After the incident was made public on May 11, some reports identified it as an RGD-5, a Soviet-era weapon.
Weapons are widespread among the Georgian populace, partly due to the disorder that has plagued the ex-Soviet republic over the past decade, including two wars with separatist regions. Criminal gangs and ransom kidnappings also plagued the country in recent years.
The separatist conflicts remain unresolved and the two regions – Abkhazia and South Ossetia – bristle at President Mikhail Saakashvili’s repeated statement of intent to restore Georgian control of the regions.
Russia has close ties with both regions’ internationally unrecognised governments. In his Tbilisi speech, Bush said all nations must respect Georgia’s territorial integrity, a clear message to Russia not exacerbate separatist tensions.
Many Russian officials in 2002 complained when the United States began sending troops to Georgia temporarily to help train and equip Georgia’s military. Russia regards Georgia as part of its historical sphere of influence and has watched with dismay as Georgia shows increasing interest in cooperation with and membership in the European Union and NATO; it also is locked in a dispute with Georgia over a timetable for closing two Russian military bases that are holdovers from the Soviet era.
Parliament speaker Nino Burdzhanadze accused unnamed forces of trying to sabotage US-Georgian ties with the grenade incident.
“There are many forces which are not interested in good relations between Georgia and the US,” she said, refusing to go into detail.
