Georgia, Tbilisi, Dec.13 / Trend N. Kirtskhalia /
Former Georgian President Eduard Shevardnadze does not rule out that the recent attacks in the country were carried out by Russia or by local terrorists.
"Unfortunately, there are people in Georgia who can organize terror attacks, as occurred against me three times during my presidency," he said today in an interview with the Asaval-Dasavali newspaper.
"It is difficult to say that the persons arrested by the Interior Ministry worked for Moscow, they could also work for homegrown terrorists," he said. "This is hard to say until the investigation ends."
Shevardnadze stressed that the most serious attack was committed against him in 1998 by terrorists who were trained at a Russian base in Chechnya.
However, Shevardnadze does not share the Russian Foreign Ministry's position that the attacks were organized by Saakashvili.
"I can blame Saakashvili for many things, but he is not a terrorist," he said.
Shevardnadze believes that the danger of terrorism is real and urges the authorities of all countries to cooperate in this matter.
Several terror acts in Georgia in September-November were organized by the Russian special services, Georgian Deputy Interior Minister Eka Zguladze said on Dec. 7.
She added that six Georgian citizens were arrested on Dec. 4 for their involvement in the blasts in the regions and Tbilisi.
On Sept. 22, a bomb exploded in a cemetery in the Digomy district, which is located between a former car market and the U.S. Embassy in Tbilisi. According to Tbilisi City Hall, an explosive device was found 40 meters from the entrance to the embassy under a cemetery wall.
On the night of Nov. 28, two powerful blasts were heard in Tbilisi. The first blast took place near the office of the opposition Labor Party on the Javakhishvili Street at around 2:00 a.m. on Sunday night, which killed one woman and injured five people. The blast broke a wall of a nearby building and shattered a large window.
No one injured as a result of the second blast which took place on the railway bed near the Tbilisi railway station.