BBC NEWS: Anti-government clash in Georgia

Mikhael Saskashveli with body guards

For the complete report from BBC NEWS click on this link

Anti-government clash in Georgia

Anti-government protesters and police have clashed in the Georgian capital, Tbilisi, over the alleged beating of a local journalist. Riot police used batons to force back some protesters who tried to enter a police compound by climbing over a fence, the interior ministry said. These were the first clashes between protesters and police since anti-government demonstrations began on 9 April. Although attendance at daily rallies has dwindled, tension in the city has risen, said the BBC's Tom Esslemont in Tbilisi.

The clash came a day after Georgian authorities said they had thwarted an army mutiny.

CSM: Georgia-The Unstable NATO Ally Seeing Red: As it blames Russia for 'mutiny' - by Fred Weir

For the complete report from the csmonitor.com click on this link

Georgia-The Unstable NATO Ally Seeing Red: As it blames Russia for 'mutiny' - by Fred Weir

It looked like a recipe for political crisis even before a Georgian tank battalion apparently mutinied on Tuesday: • Nearly a month of rolling street demonstrations have virtually shut down the central area of the capital, with thousands of protesters daily demanding the resignation of Georgia's president, Mikhail Saakashvili. • Russian troops have been massing in the past week barely an hour's drive away in South Ossetia. • NATO-sponsored war games that Moscow furiously opposes are set to begin on Wednesday.Georgi Khutsishvili, chair of the International Center on Conflict and Negotiation in Tbilisi, says there are no "pro-Russian" forces, either among the opposition in Tbilisi's streets or within the Georgian army. "Our authorities are always seeing Moscow's hand in things," he says. "But I cannot imagine that any Georgian army battalion could revolt on Russian orders. I completely exclude this. Whatever happened, it must be explained by internal factors." Experts say the Kremlin appears increasingly concerned over the damage to Russia's fragile dialogue with NATO, begun with high hopes barely a month ago. Russian President Dmitry Medvedev last week called on the Western alliance to cancel the "shortsighted" war games, and ordered Russian officials not to attend a NATO council meeting slated for Thursday.

Note EU-Digest: It is high time the EU distance itself from this very precarious situation in Georgia, mainly created by the unstable leadership of Mikhail Saakashvili