Bush never in danger in Georgia

Georgian security officials discovered a hand grenade close to US President George W. Bush as he addressed a rapturous crowd in Tbilisi on Tuesday, but the White House said yesterday his life was never in danger.

Officials in the former Soviet republic, which was hosting a serving US President for the first time, were at pains to play down the incident, saying it was a dud that could not explode.

Washington said security measures were tight enough as Mr Bush hailed the ex-Soviet country's new democracy in front of a 150,000-strong crowd and that details of the grenade incident were sketchy.

Asked whether Mr Bush's life was ever in danger, White House spokesman Scott McClellan replied: "No".

"The Secret Service goes to great lengths to ensure that the appropriate security measures are in place," he told reporters.

"There are different reports about exactly what this was and what happened, and the Secret Service continues to look into it."

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