Rumsfeld's visit comes at a time when Moscow and Washington have renewed their Cold War-style rivalry for influence over Georgia, a country seen in the West as a crucial gateway for the export of oil from the nearby Caspian Sea to world markets.

Georgian authorities have laid on massive security for the Pentagon chief following a series of explosions in the capital, Tbilisi, over the past 10 days which raised fears that the peaceful change of power could disintegrate into a violent counter-revolution.

"This is a very important visit," said Jemal Gakhokidze, Secretary of Georgia's Security Council. "We are controlling the situation. I do not think anything unexpected will happen."

A security cordon had been thrown up around Tbilisi's airport where Rumsfeld is due to fly in Friday afternoon, becoming the highest-ranking US official to make the trip since veteran Georgian president Eduard Shevardnadze was dramatically ousted.

Rumsfeld's schedule in Georgia has not been confirmed, but he is expected to have talks with Georgia's interim President Nino Burjanadze and Defence Minister David Tevzadze. He may also visit an army base near the capital where US instructors have been training Georgian troops.

Georgia is the latest stop for Rumsfeld on a whistlestop tour which has already taken in Afghanistan and Azerbaijan, Georgia's neighbour in the Caucasus mountains.

Georgia is at the centre of a tug-of-war between Russia and the United States for influence. Analysts say the new leadership is leaning towards the West, but the Kremlin is refusing to relinquish its influence. It still has two army bases on Georgian soil, a hangover from the Soviet Union.

The US Defense Secretary's visit will give the stamp of legitimacy to the new regime in Georgia and "send a signal to the Russians" that Washington stands behind the country's leadership, said analyst Alexander Rondeli, President of the Georgian Foundation for Strategic and International Studies in Tbilisi.

Shevardnadze, a 75-year-old former Soviet foreign minister, handed in his resignation on November 23 after thousands of opposition supporters, frustrated at falling living standards and a parliamentary election they said was rigged, stormed the parliament building and the presidential administration.

The interim regime has scheduled presidential elections for January 4, with US-educated opposition leader Mikhail Saakashvili tipped as the favourite to win. He launched his campaign Thursday at a rally in Tbilisi as officials pledged to break with the past by staging fair elections.

The new governemnt is broke and does not even have the funds to run the election. A US State Department official, also on a visit to Georgia this week, pledged five-million-dollars (4.14-million-euros) in emergency aid to tide the country over.

But the biggest cloud hanging over Georgia is a wave of political violence. Bombs have gone off outside the state television station and the offices of an opposition party. A former Shevardnadze ally was also the target of a botched assassination attempt.

No one has claimed responsiblity for the attacks but the new government has blamed holdouts from the old regime who, it claims, are set on mounting a counter-revolution.

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