Georgia arrests Russian officers, besieges barracks

On Wednesday, Georgia detained four Russian military officers and 12 civilians on espionage charges, marking a serious escalation in tensions between Tbilisi and Moscow. Georgian forces surrounded Russia's military barracks in Tbilisi late on Wednesday to demand the handover of another Russian officer.

Georgia's to Moscow was summoned to the Russian foreign ministry and given a protest note demanding the immediate release of the officers. The ministry said the detentions were "an outrageous escapade."

Georgian of the Interior Vano Merabishvili, said the officers and their agents in Georgia were part of a "very serious and dangerous" spy network that had been involved in espionage for years.

Merabishvili the detained officers were members of Russia's GRU army intelligence unit and had been planning "a serious provocation."

Colonel Alexander Sava, named by Merabishvili as the leader of the spy ring, and Lieutenant Colonel Dmitry Kazantsev were arrested in Tbilisi, while Colonel Alexander Zavgorodtsev and Major Alexander Barantsev were detained in Batumi on Georgia's Black Sea coast.

Georgian had encircled the Russian military barracks to ensure that the fifth suspect did not flee the country via "diplomatic channels," Merabishvili said.

Russia operates two military bases in Georgia, which was formerly part of the Soviet Union. The bases are due to be closed next year.

Merabishvili the officers were also accused of having been involved in a bomb attack in the town of Gori, 80km west of Tbilisi, which killed three police officers and injured 23 other people.

Relations Georgia and its former imperial master have reached new lows since President Mikhail Saakashvili came to power after the 2003 "Rose Revolution" and sought closer ties with the west and NATO membership.

The Kremlin retaliated this year with a ban on Georgian wine and mineral water exports, allegedly for public health reasons. In a speech to the UN general assembly last Friday Saakashvili accused Russia of seeking to annex parts of Georgian territory by supporting separatists in the breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.

Russia the rebels financially and has installed hundreds of peacekeepers in the two regions, which are not internationally recognized but which have enjoyed de facto independence since wars in the 1990s.

Tensions along the South Ossetia border in recent weeks, with Ossetian forces firing on a military helicopter carrying Georgia's defense minister and a skirmish on Sept. 7 that left four dead.