President George W. Bush, whose ties with the new Georgian government have irritated Moscow, called Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili on Friday to congratulate him on a deal for the pull-out of Russian troops, Reuters reported. Russia promised to shut its two military bases in Georgia and pull out its troops in 2008 under a deal announced on Monday. The bases have been a source of friction between Russia and its southern neighbor, whose pro-western government has likened the presence of Russian troops in the Soviet-era bases to an "occupation." "The two leaders agreed on the importance of Georgia and Russia working together in a constructive way to move forward on the agreement and to advance cooperation on the peaceful resolution of Georgia's separatist conflicts," White House spokesman Scott McClellan told reporters. Bush visited Tbilisi last month, just after attending a military parade in Moscow to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the end of World War II. His appearance at Tbilisi's Freedom Square, where he hailed Georgia as a "beacon of liberty," was marred by the discovery of a grenade after he finished speaking. FBI officials said the grenade had been live and landed within 100 feet (30 metres) of the president, although Bush was unaware of it at the time. McClellan said Bush and Saakashvili discussed the grenade incident but he gave no new details on the investigation. --SP 2327 Local Time 2027 GMT
