Posted on 07/25/2005 8:19:06 AM PDT by kharaku
TBILISI, Georgia - FBI agents hauled away boxes Monday from the home of a man who has confessed to throwing a grenade at President Bush at a rally in Georgia's capital in May.
Investigators have erected a tent outside Vladimir Arutyunian's home, on the outskirts of Tbilisi, and appeared to be using special equipment to examine the evidence, according to footage shown by Georgian Rustavi-2 television.
No one was harmed in the incident, and Arutyunian has been charged with killing a police officer in a shootout during his arrest last week. He was shown on TV admitting to throwing the grenade, according to video broadcast Saturday, but authorities have not said yet if they plan to charge him in connection with that confession.
Georgian authorities, working with the FBI, were still searching for a motive in the grenade attack.
FBI and Georgian agents were questioning Arutyunian's mother, Angela.
She said she had been told not to discuss details, but that she planned to visit her son Tuesday. "I don't know if they will let me in to see him or not," she said.
Defense lawyer Guliko Dzhisheladze said he would meet Arutyunian on Monday.
Bush had been visiting Georgia to try to cement relations between the United States and Georgia's new pro-Western leadership.
Both Bush and Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili had been behind a bulletproof barrier addressing a rally of thousands in Tbilisi when the grenade landed about 100 feet away. It did not explode, and investigators later said it apparently had malfunctioned.
The deputy commander of Russia's forces in Georgia denied any link with Arutyunian, after reports that Russian military uniforms were found in his house. Russian officials have noted that such uniforms are widely available at flea markets throughout the former Soviet Union.
Georgia's Interior Ministry said Friday that Arutyunian was believed to have been a member of a political party that supports the former leader of a region largely outside central government control.
Aslan Abashidze, the recalcitrant leader of the Adzharia region, fled to Russia last year amid street protests against his authoritarian rule.
(One might note the part about Russian Military outfits being available at flea markets on the cheap.)
"I'd like to buy a vowel, please...."
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