FBI: Grenade Was A Threat To Bush

A grenade hurled in a crowd during last week's speech by President Bush in the Georgian capital was capable of exploding and was considered a threat against the president, the FBI said Wednesday.

In Washington, the White House spokesman said Secret Service agents in Georgia were examining whether security changes were needed, noting that some people were seen getting around metal detectors at Mr. Bush's May 10 speech.

The FBI statement contradicted initial reports by Georgian officials that the Soviet-era grenade was found on the ground, was inactive and posed no danger to Mr. Bush.

The grenade, wrapped in a dark handkerchief, fell about 100 feet from the podium where Mr. Bush was speaking and "simply failed to function," FBI agent Bryan Paarmann said.

He identified it as a live hand grenade, whereas initial Georgian statements said it appeared to have been an "engineering grenade," a device that is not designed to spread shrapnel.

"We consider this act to be a threat against the health and welfare of the president of the United States as well as the welfare of the multitudes of Georgian people who turned up for this event," Paarmann said.

CBS News White House Correspondent Mark Knoller reports that White House spokesman Scott McClellan says it was known at the time that some at the Freedom Square speech site got in without going through metal detectors because a security checkpoint at the event collapsed.

But a senior White House official says canceling the speech was never considered at the highest levels of the government, reports Knoller.

The president was not aware of the grenade report during his visit until Secret Service agents on the plane told him about it as he returned to Andrews Air Force Base outside Washington, McClellan said at the time.

No arrests have been made in the case, and police have appealed to the public for videotapes that may contain footage of the incident.

McClellan said Wednesday the president was updated on the new information Tuesday night and given an additional report when the FBI director attended the president's usual security briefing.

"The FBI is working very closely with Georgian authorities to make sure that this is fully investigated," he said. "We want to see the results of that investigation once it is completed."

Asked about his earlier statement that the president had never been in any danger, McClellan said: "The Secret Service didn't consider him to be at that time. Obviously we've learned more since."

During the event, there was no sign of any security threat or out-of-the-ordinary commotion to indicate something was wrong.

McClellan would not comment on the president's personal reaction to the news, and would not say whether it would affect future presidential events.

"The Secret Service is looking into all those issues," he said. "The Secret Service has the full trust of the president. They go to great lengths to provide for his security."

CBS News Correspondent Peter Maer reports that Secret Service spokesman Tom Mazur says the Secret Service is involved in the "ongoing investigation" being conducted by the FBI and Georgian authorities.

Since the FBI is the lead agency, the spokesman did not address the conclusion that the president's life was in danger. "I don't believe it is our place to comment," he said.

Mazur says the agency is "evaluating" the grenade incident but declined to characterize the Secret Service's internal look at the incident as a formal review, reports Maer.

Mr. Bush spoke to tens of thousands of people in Freedom Square, a main plaza in Tbilisi, as part of a visit aimed at cementing relations between the United States and the ex-Soviet republic's new pro-Western leadership.

He offered strong support for Georgia's democratic development following the 2003 Rose Revolution that toppled President Eduard Shevardnadze and placed Mikhail Saakashvili in office. The crowd response was overwhelmingly favorable.