European experts to probe Georgia missile drop

TBILISI, Aug 18 (Reuters) European military experts have arrived in Georgia to investigate the dropping of a missile that the former Soviet country has blamed on Russia, officials said today.

Russia denies any involvement in the incident. The missile landed on Aug 6 in a field about 65 km (40 miles) from the Georgian capital Tbilisi. It did not explode.

Britain's ambassador to Georgia, Denis Keefe, said a team of military experts from Britain, France, Poland and Estonia would investigate the incident.

An Interior Ministry official said later that the delegation had already arrived in Tbilisi.

The incident has worsened relations between Tbilisi and Moscow which were already in crisis since Georgia began pulling out of Moscow's orbit and seeking membership of NATO and the European Union.

Last week, eight defence analysts from the United States, Latvia, Lithuania and Sweden said a plane flying from Russia had entered Georgian air space three times and had dropped a Russian-made missile on Georgia.

A delegation of Russian military officials on a fact-finding visit yesterday to Tbilisi rejected Georgian accusations that the missile was dropped by a Russian plane and accused Georgia of destroying or concealing evidence.

It also said the international group's conclusion was wrong.

Reuters SYU DB2331