S Ossetian rebels force down Georgia helicopter

TBILISI, Sep 3 (Reuters) A helicopter carrying Georgia's defence minister and chief of staff was shot at by rebels from the breakaway region of South Ossetia, forcing it to make an emergency landing today, a military commander said.

Defence Minister Irakly Okruashvili and chief of staff Levan Nikoleishvili were not hurt, officials said.

''A few shots were fired at the Georgian helicopter, but it managed to land on the territory controlled by the Georgian side. No one died,'' Paata Bedianishvili, commander of the Georgian battalion in the joint peacekeeping force in the area, told Georgia's independent Rustavi-2 television channel.

Georgia's independent Imedi television channel showed Okruashvili saying the helicopter was carrying him and Nikoleishvili to Senaki in western Georgia. The pilot was the third person on board.

''On our course to Senaki our helicopter was shot at. Those were the Ossetian bands ... everyone has to reconcile himself with the fact that the rampage of these rogues will stop very soon,'' he said without elaborating.

''For 10 to 15 minutes, we were actually plunging,'' he said.

''But the experience of the pilot saved the helicopter.'' Video footage showed the Soviet-era Mi-8 military transport helicopter with several bullet holes on one of its sides.

South Ossetia, a mountainous enclave on the Russian border that broke free from Georgia's rule in a 1991-92 conflict, has a mostly ethnic Russian population and seeks closer ties with Russia, which gives it financial support.

The region is a frequent source of tension between Moscow and Tbilisi. Georgia accuses Russia of propping up the breakaway rulers.

South Ossetia's population are eligible for Russian passports.

Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili has pledged to regain control over South Ossetia and another breakaway region, Abkhazia.

Two bombings in South Ossetia in July -- blamed by South Ossetia on Georgia -- prompted Russia to warn Georgia against an attack on the region and to pledge it would defend its peacekeepers and citizens in the region ''by any means''.

A joint peacekeeping force of Russians and Georgians is deployed in the region.

Reuters AB GC2249