Georgia Claims to Foil 'Terrorist Act'

Georgian security agencies said Thursday they had foiled an attack after two foreign nationals were arrested in Tbilisi along with a large cache of explosives and weapons.

"An attempted terrorist act has been foiled by Georgia's Ministry of Internal Affairs at a preparatory stage," the interior ministry said in a statement.

"Foreign" citizens Mikail Kadiev and Rizvan Omarov were arrested during a dawn raid by police in which a stash of explosives, firearms and fake identity documents were discovered, the statement said without specifying the men's countries of origin.

The statement said that Kadiev is wanted by Interpol for involvement in an unspecified crime in a Western European country.

"Intensive investigations are being carried out to establish and neutralize criminal connections between the persons exposed preparing a terrorist act and their accomplices and patrons -- both within the country and within the framework of international anti-terrorist cooperation," the statement said.

The former Soviet republic has not been considered a major target despite its current deployment of roughly 1,550 troops to the NATO-led mission in Afghanistan.

Last year Georgian officials said that an explosive device was discovered attached to the bottom of an Israeli diplomat's car in Tbilisi and defused before it blew up.

Israel accused Iran of planting the alleged bomb -- and of organizing a simultaneous attack in Delhi -- but Tehran strongly denied the allegations.

In 2005 a man was arrested, and later imprisoned, for throwing a hand grenade towards then-U.S. president George W. Bush as he addressed a rally during a visit to Tbilisi.