Suspect Detained in Bush Grenade Throwing

Associated Press
July 20, 2005

Georgian police on Wednesday detained a man suspected of throwing a
live grenade during a rally at which President Bush spoke in May,
the Interior Ministry said. The capture came after a shootout in
which one officer was killed and another wounded.

The shootout and detention occurred Wednesday evening in the village
of Vashlisdzhvari, outside the capital, Tbilisi, ministry spokesman
Guram Donadze told The Associated Press. The suspect fled into the
woods but was later detained, Donadze said.

Rustavi-2 television showed pictures of a dark-haired man it described
as the suspect being hustled into a car by police officers. It said he
was wounded and identified him as Vladimir Arutyunov, in his late 20s.

The man lived in an eight-story apartment building with his mother,
Rustavi-2 reported, citing neighbors as saying Arutyunov was
unemployed. The report could not immediately be confirmed.

Eric Zahren, a spokesman for the U.S. Secret Service, said the agency
is monitoring the investigation by the Georgian authorities. “We were
not directly involved and not present” at the arrest, he said.

The police operation came two days after authorities released a
photograph of a man suspected of throwing the grenade, which failed
to explode, at a podium where Bush was speaking May 10 before tens
of thousands of people.

President Mikhail Saakashvili also was on the podium when Bush spoke,
raising the prospect that the grenade could have been directed at him.

Interior Minister Vano Merabishvili also had announced a reward of
about $80,000 for information leading to the identification of the man,
who was shown with dark hair and dark glasses.

Saakashvili, who came to power after the 2003 Rose Revolution
that ousted Eduard Shevardnadze, has provoked enmity with his
anti-corruption initiatives and insistence on restoring control over
two separatist regions.

Bush spoke from behind bulletproof glass, addressing a huge crowd in
a main Tbilisi square as part of a visit aimed at cementing relations
between the United States and Georgia’s new pro-Western leadership.

The grenade landed less than 100 feet from the podium but did
not explode. A preliminary investigation indicated the grenade
malfunctioned, the FBI said.