Reply #164: Georgian official: Grenade found where Bush spoke in Tbilisi was dud

[Scurrilous]

http://www.haaretz.com/hasen/spages/575174.html

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"Georgian security officials discovered a grenade close to U.S. President George W. Bush as he hailed the country's new democracy before a rapturous crowd on Tuesday.

Officials in the former Soviet republic, which had hosted a serving U.S. president for the first time, were at pains to play down the incident, saying it was a dud that could not explode.

Georgia's security chief, speaking to journalists on Wednesday, did not confirm an earlier report from Washington that said the device had been thrown within 30 meters (100 feet) of Bush during his speech on Tbilisi's Freedom Square.

"A (Soviet-made) RPG-5 hand grenade was found at the square," Gela Bezhuashvili, secretary of Georgia's Security Council, said. It had been discovered 50 meters (160 feet) from where Bush stood, he said, but he gave no more precise details.

"It was not in working condition. In fact there was no chance it could explode. I think the aim was to scare people and attract attention," he said."