Georgia probes motorcade shooting incident

TBILISI, Georgia, Nov. 25 (UPI) -- A criminal probe on terrorism charges was opened over shots fired by Russian forces at a presidential motorcade, the Georgian Interior Ministry said Tuesday.

The Georgian ministry said in a statement, "On November 23 shots were fired from a checkpoint manned by Russian occupying forces in the village of Odzisi ... (of South Ossetia) at the motorcade of Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili and Polish President Lech Kaczynski, who was on a visit to Georgia. Armed individuals at the post opened fire as soon as the presidential motorcade approached."

Countering Georgian claims that Russians or South Ossetians fired the shots, Russian officials said Georgia staged the shooting, Russian news agency RIA Novosti reported. Both Russia and South Ossetia denied firing the shots.

Polish Speaker Bronislaw Komorowski, a former defense minister, said Georgia's account "raises many question" about the incident because "we both saw presidents standing and talking" instead of being driven off and protected by bodyguards, RIA Novosti said.

Kaczynski said shots were fired but the target was unclear.

He also called on the European Union to draw "proper conclusions" from the attack. The European Union and NATO have expressed concern about the incident.