Georgia hits out at Russian military's 'sabre rattling'

Georgia has accused Russia of redeploying troops closer to its border and said it expected the Russian Black Sea fleet to start maneouvres in the next few days.

Vano Merabishvili, Georgia's Interior Minister, said the fleet maneouvres and the movement of Russian ground troops closer to the border had caused bewilderment in Georgia. "I would advise our colleagues to stop sabre-rattling," said Mr Merabishvili. "This is unacceptable for a democratic country and we don't understand that."

Russia's military said it could reconsider plans to withdraw its troops from Georgia by 2008 because of the arrest of four Russian officers. General Andrei Popov, the commander of Russian forces in Georgia, said Russia's obligation to close its two remaining military bases in Georgia by the end of 2008 still stood, but added that "if our servicemen are arrested and put in custody, there will be problems with the withdrawal since there will be no people left to prepare weapons for the pullout".

The detention of five Russian officers on Wednesday - one of whom was released yesterday - plunged tense relations between the two countries to a new low, with Russia recalling its ambassador, evacuating some diplomats and their families and protesting to the United Nations.

The Russian Defence Minister, Sergei Ivanov, has denounced Georgia as a "bandit" state.

Tbilisi courts remanded the four Russian officers in custody for two months. The courts also extended the arrest of 10 Georgians accused of involvement in a Russian spy ring.

Mr Ivanov said the arrests were aimed at pushing Russian troops out of Georgia so the government could seize control of pro-Russian breakaway provinces, Abkhazia and South Ossetia, by force.

The Russian ambassador to Georgia, Vyacheslav Kovalenko, said, after returning to Moscow, that families of all Russian military in Georgia would be evacuated shortly.