Man who threw grenade aimed so shrapnel would hit president

TBILISI, Georgia – A man who admitted throwing a live grenade toward President Bush during a rally in Georgia said in a video broadcast Saturday he aimed to spray shrapnel over the bulletproof glass protecting the U.S. leader.

Bush and Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili were at a podium protected by the bulletproof barrier at a rally in Tbilisi in May when the grenade landed about 100 feet away. It did not explode, and investigators later said it apparently malfunctioned.

“I threw the grenade, not directly at where there was bulletproof glass, but toward the heads … so that the shrapnel would fly behind the bulletproof glass,” Vladimir Arutyunian said in the video broadcast by Georgia’s Rustavi-2 television.

The station said the clip was provided by the Interior Ministry.

Arutyunian was arrested Wednesday after a shootout in which he was injured and a policeman was killed. He has been charged with murder in the policeman’s death, but no charges have been filed in the May grenade incident.

Arutyunian has been in a hospital since his arrest. The video showed him lying propped up in his bed, but speaking lucidly and gesturing strongly.

Court officials on Saturday came to the hospital and ordered Arutyunian detained for three months while the investigation continues.