New Georgian defense minister vows to probe predecessor's arms sale to Iran

13:37, 01.11.2012 1 min read

The Georgian Defense Ministry inspectorate is looking into former Defense Minister David Kezerashvili's possible involvement in arms trading, new Defense Minister and Deputy Prime Minister Irakly Alasania said in an interview published in the Thursday issue of the newspaper Aliya.

Kezerashvili was defense minister during the 2008 war between Russia and Georgia. Georgian media reported about his possible involvement in an international scandal over arms trading two years ago.

Alasania confirmed that Kezerashvili was involved in arms trading.

"I confirm information that Kezerashvili was involved in these purchases, and this issue will be investigated," Alasania said, adding that he had received information from security agencies that Georgia had "bought missiles from Ukraine and then sold them to Iran two or three years ago."

"Relevant U.S. services learned about this," Alasania said.