ITAR-TASS News Agency
TASS
July 24, 2005 Sunday 10:29 AM Eastern Time

Suspected attacker on Bush unrelated to Armenia – premier

By Tengiz Pachkoria

TBILISI

Georgian police carry on the investigation of the May 10 attempted
attack on U.S. President George Bush in Tbilisi.

Suspect Vladimir Arutyunian, 27, admitted tossing a grenade. He is
charged with illegal weapon and premeditated murder of a Georgian
Interior Ministry officer. The Tbilisi city court authorized his
three-month arrest pending trial on Saturday.

On Sunday a team of the U.S. FBI opened the basement of a house on
the Tbilisi outskirts where the suspect lived. The basement was
sealed by Georgian police. Presumably, the suspect made grenades in
that basement. Results of the search have not been announced.

Georgian Prime Minister Zurab Nogaideli hopes that the police will
soon finalize the investigation. He said he would not discuss the
Arutyunian situation with visiting Armenian Prime Minister Andranik
Margarian.

Meanwhile, Margarian said that the Arutyunian case was not related to
Armenia. “I do not know why Arutyunian did that, but I know that he
is a citizen of Georgia and his actions are unrelated to Armenia and
the Armenian people,” he said.