Word: mukhrovani
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Dates: during 2009-2009
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...Georgia AN INCONVENIENT MUTINY Armored tanks rushed to break up a revolt by some 500 soldiers on a military base in Mukhrovani, one day before NATO embarked on sensitive military exercises nearby. Officials painted the mutiny as a covert Russian coup attempt, which Moscow flatly denied. The uprising comes at a bad time for President Mikheil Saakashvili, who faces mass protests calling for his resignation over his handling of last year's war with Russia...
...grown increasingly tense in recent weeks as opponents of Saakashvili's handling of last year's confrontation with Moscow and the deepening economic crisis have taken to the streets, holding mass demonstrations and blocking roads in the capital. And it was those demonstrations that appear to have prompted the Mukhrovani soldiers' rebellion, at a base where soldiers had previously mutinied over pay and conditions in 2001 and 2004. "One cannot calmly watch the collapse of the country and watch the continuing political confrontation. But there won't be any aggressive action from our tank unit. We are in our barracks...
...Tuesday's mutiny at a military base near Tbilisi part of a coup attempt orchestrated by Russia, but opponents of beleaguered President Mikheil Saakashvili accuse him of using the incident to crack down on mounting domestic opposition. Soldiers in tanks and armored personnel carriers raced to the base in Mukhrovani, 20 miles from the capital, to confront mutinous soldiers, about 500 of whom were arrested after the standoff ended peacefully...
...Some in the opposition believe Saakashvili may use the mutiny as an excuse to mobilize the military against demonstrators. "It is possible the authorities might use the incident with the military unit in Mukhrovani to quell the rallies in Tbilisi," said Mamuka Katsitadze, an opposition leader, although the Georgian leadership may be wary of igniting Western opposition given its precarious position...
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