Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili has described the 30 October incident involving Russian peacekeepers as a "treacherous" attack by a rival that was "armed to the teeth, peremptory, and shameless".

The president was speaking at a gathering on 31 October in the west Georgian town of Kutaisi to mark the opening of a sports palace and present a new plan for the development of the town. His speech was broadcast live by the Rustavi-2 TV station.

Saakashvili said that the Russian peacekeepers who attacked on 30 October the Georgian police post at the Ganmukhuri youth patriot camp near the dividing line between Abkhazia and the rest of Georgia were part of a "bandit unit". "They thought it was the right moment because there was domestic unrest in Georgia," Saakashvili said, implying the current situation in Georgia with the opposition becoming more active and intending to hold a large rally in the centre of the capital city of Tbilisi on 2 November.

The president stressed that it was proposed that he change his schedule, postpone this event in Kutaisi, and concentrate mostly on the incident, but he refused because Ganmukhuri was a "symbol of our return to Abkhazia, our staunchness, and our new energy". He said this would be what Georgia's "rivals" actually wanted - to create an image of Georgia as a weak country in an "unclear situation", hoping that the camp would fall and the incumbent Georgian government would fall together with it.

He said when he learned about the incident, he immediately took a helicopter and flew to the scene of the Ganmukhuri incident, which ended in "bandits fleeing in the face of courage, boldness, and audacity".

"The most powerful rival will retreat until we hold our heads high, until we are strong and refuse to kneel down," he said.

Saakashvili stressed that Georgia still had a lot of problems, but the main thing was that it had "regained dignity".

Describing Kutaisi as the "cradle of Georgian culture", Saakashvili said that the "ambitious" project that was being presented was aimed at transforming it into a "town of the 21st century and the most beautiful town in Europe". He pledged a major part of the project would be implemented by Georgia's Independence Day - 26 May - next year.

He said the areas around Kutaisi would also be renovated and rebuilt and he would again swear his second presidential oath in Galati Monastery near Kutaisi that was renovated and restored during his first presidential term.

Prepared by BBC Monitoring

Press Office
of the President of Georgia