Russia claims to have Georgian spy

MOSCOW, May 17 (UPI) -- A Georgian spy has been detained in southern Russia, the Federal Security Bureau said Friday.

Officials said the agent was involved in coordinating armed guerrilla groups in the Caucasus, Itar-Tass reported.

"Some time ago the activity of an agent of Georgian secret services -- Chechen-Kistin Ramzan Turkoshvili, 34, Russian citizen born in Georgia -- has been suppressed in the territory of the Southern federal district of

Russia," an FSB official said.

Shota Khizanishvili, head of the Georgian Interior Ministry, told the Novosti news agency the Russian claims are a "primitive provocation."

"The Georgian Interior Ministry has nothing to do with this person," Khizanishvili said.

The FSB says Georgia has been trying to incite rebellion among Muslims in the North Caucasus. Relations between Russia and the former Soviet republic have been deteriorating, with Russia becoming more supportive of two breakaway Georgian regions, Abkhazia and South Ossetia.