The commander of Russian forces in the southern Caucausus, General Alexander Studenikin, was lightly wounded late Tuesday by a bomb explosion in the Georgian capital.

"We had expected such provocations on the part of forces which want to destabilise Georgia and this could be linked to the situation in Adjara," Georgui Baramidze told a press conference in Moscow, where he was on a visit.

"There are many in Georgia and beyond who do not want us to pursue the political dialogue (with Adjara) and to achieve a solution to this crisis," the interior minister added, without making any specific accusations.

New Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili is engaged in a heated battle to force Adjara's strongarm leader Aslan Abashidze to bow to central authority over his semi-autonomous region.

Saakashvili condemned the incident Wednesday and said it was aimed at inflaming tensions with Russia -- which is traditionally close to Adjara and itself is involved in difficult talks over the fate of two Russian military bases in Georgia.

"I think it is a provocation intended to sabotage the improving ties between Georgia and Russia," he said on a visit to Brussels.

The Russian commander escaped with minor injuries when a bomb exploded near an apartment block housing Russian military in the city centre as he was walking home late Tuesday.

Russia's foreign ministry spokesman Alexander Yakovenko called for an urgent investigation of what it also called "a terrorist act".

"This crime, committed in the very center of the city, is utterly outrageous. We have no doubt that it was carried out in a bid to undermine Russia's relations with Georgia," the ministry said in a statement.

Russia and Georgia are deadlocked in negotiations over the withdrawal of two Russian military bases in the former Soviet republic, with Moscow resisting demands for a rapid pullout of its troops.

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