Suspect Admits Throwing Grenade at Bush
By MISHA DZHINDZHIKHASHVILI
The Associated Press
07/21/05 14:35 EDT
TBILISI, Georgia (AP) – A man arrested after a fatal shootout with
police admitted in video footage shown Thursday to throwing a grenade
during a May rally where President Bush was making a speech.
Vladimir Arutyunian’s alleged confession came as investigators found
grenades and unspecified chemicals in his home on the outskirts of
Tbilisi and tried to piece together his motivations in the incident
that cast a shadow over a visit meant to showcase Georgia’s progress.
“I threw the grenade during Bush’s speech,” Arutyunian said from a
hospital room, where he was being treated for wounds suffered during
a shootout as police tried to arrest him late Wednesday.
One policeman was killed, and the suspect fled into the nearby woods.
He was captured about an hour later.
Other video footage released Thursday by Georgian authorities showed
Arutyunian lying on a gurney being wheeled from the scene, one of his
cheeks swollen and bloody. He made an obscene gesture at the camera.
Bush and Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili were on the podium in
front of a massive crowd in downtown Tbilisi when the live grenade
was thrown. The grenade landed less than 100 feet from the podium
but did not explode.
A preliminary investigation indicated the grenade’s activation device
deployed too slowly to detonate, the FBI said.
Authorities have not commented on whether Arutyunian was connected
to any separatist groups in Georgia’s breakaway region of Abkhazia
or nearby Chechnya.
The U.S. Embassy in Georgia said Thursday it “welcomes the news that
the Georgian Ministry of Internal Affairs, through joint efforts
with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, diligent detective work
and a strong commitment to solving this case, have taken into custody
a suspect.”
The embassy declined comment on whether the FBI was involved in the
arrest or follow-up.
Saakashvili thanked the police for the successful detention.
“Yesterday our security forces carried out a special operation to
detain the suspect in the attempted terrorist act during the speech
in Tbilisi on May 10 by President George Bush,” the president told
the Imedi television channel from the Netherlands, where he was
on vacation.
“A difficult technical task was carried out. Unfortunately, a police
officer was killed during the operation. I would like to tell everyone
that in Georgia we have excellent security forces.”
Saakashvili said the suspect “did not aim to kill the presidents
but deliver a huge blow to Georgia’s international reputation and
the prestige of our country. Thankfully, with God’s help, it did
not happen.”
Georgian authorities released a photo of the suspect Monday
and announced an $80,000 reward for information leading to his
identification. Interior Minister Vano Merabishvili said Thursday
that several people were claiming the reward.
Officials were giving little information Thursday about Arutyunian,
described in news reports as being in his mid-20s and unemployed. But
Interior Ministry spokesman Guram Donadze said grenades and unspecified
chemicals were found during a search of his home.
Video footage showed police sorting through a pile of items apparently
found in his apartment, including a book called “Initial Military
Training” that was part of the standard curriculum in Soviet schools.
Georgian officials initially claimed the grenade had not been set
to explode, and U.S. officials said Bush had been in no danger. But
authorities later said the grenade had been a threat to Bush’s life.
Bush spoke from behind bulletproof glass as he addressed 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.
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.
From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress