Georgia accused of 'concocting' air intrusion

Russia's top military officer yesterday accused Georgia of fabricating a report of a Russian missile attack, as Moscow and its small Westward-looking neighbor continued angry bickering over an incident that heightened bilateral tensions.

Georgia said radar data proved Russian jets violated its airspace on Monday and fired a missile aiming at a Georgian radar. The missile, which did not explode, landed near a village in the northwestern Gori region near Georgia's breakaway province of South Ossetia patrolled by Russian peacekeepers.

General Yuri Baluyevsky, the chief of Russia's military General Staff, said that Georgia concocted the incident to foment tensions.