Nato holds Georgia war games, Russia fiercely critical

Nato launched military exercises in former Soviet Georgia yesterday under a storm of criticism from Russia and following a rebellion in the Georgian military.

Russia has condemned the month-long war games as "muscle-flexing" on its southern border, where it sent tanks and troops in August last year in a five-day war to crush a Georgian assault on breakaway South Ossetia. Georgia said on Tuesday it had put down a mutiny at a tank base east of the capital Tbilisi, and accused Russia of trying to disrupt the exercises and foment a wider rebellion against President Mikheil Saakashvili.

Russia said the accusations were "insane" and accused Mr Saakashvili of trying to shift the blame for weeks of opposition protests demanding he resign over his record on democracy and last year's disastrous military defeat.