FBI: Grenade at Bush speech could have exploded

updated 8:13 p.m. ET May 18, 2005

TBILISI, Georgia - The FBI on Wednesday said a grenade found amid the crowd during last week’s speech by President Bush in this former Soviet republic was capable of exploding.

The statement by agent Brian Parmen contradicted initial reports by Georgian officials that the grenade either was not in condition to explode or that it was a so-called “engineering grenade” that wouldn’t be fatal except at extremely close range.

Parmen also said the grenade had been thrown and fell on a girl in the crowd. That also was odds with statements by Georgian officials, who said it was not thrown.

William Arkin / NBC News An RGD-5 grenade, the type that was thrown in the president's direction during his visit to Tbilisi, Georgia, on May 10.

Bush spoke to tens of thousands of people in Freedom Square, a main plaza in Tbilisi, the Georgian capital, on May 10. The crowd response was overwhelming favorable and Bush spoke in strong support of Georgia’s efforts at democratic development following the Rose Revolution of 2003.

No arrests have been made in the case and police have appealed to the public to offer photos and videotapes that may contain information on the perpetrator.

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