Clashes mar Georgia anniversary

Georgian soldiers check a car near a base seized by a Georgian National Guard unit

TBILISI, Georgia -- Nationalists clashed with police in Tbilisi just hours after Georgia's President Eduard Shevardnadze talked troops in to ending a mutiny.

Up to 15 policemen were injured, at least one seriously, after fights broke out between supporters of the late president Zviad Gamsakhurdia and police in the centre of the country's capital on Saturday.

The demonstrations, involving an estimated 400 protesters bearing broomsticks and wooden crosses, came on the 10th anniversary of the country's independence from the former Soviet Union.

Gamsakhurdia was the country's first president but was ousted in a violent coup in 1992 and replaced by Shevardnadze.

Tbilisi police chief Soso Alavidze told Reuters that the head of the city's criminal search unit had been taken to hospital with a serious head wound on Saturday.

VIDEO An anti-government demonstration in the republic of Georgia on friday turns violent as protesters clash with riot police (May 26) Play video (QuickTime, Real or Windows Media)

AUDIO CNN's Matthew Chance: Troops guaranteed not to be charged with mutiny 542 Kb/50 secs. AIFF or WAV sound

Arrests were made but it was unclear how many.

Troops return to barracks

The protest came after troops who had taken over Georgia's Interior Ministry base on Friday in a protest at conditions -- including claims of 14 months unpaid wages -- returned to their barracks.

"This morning, the national guard battalion with its military equipment completed its relocation and returned to its base in Noria," Georgian Defence Ministry spokesman Dmitry Lezhava said on Saturday.

Shevardnadze, who met with leaders of the protest, said that the armed forces needed more support and pledged to address their complaints. None of those who took part in the action will be prosecuted.

Those involved in the protest insist it was motivated by economics, not politics, after early accusations of high treason. Demands included 14 months of back wages, new uniforms and better pay.

Colonel Georgy Krialashvili, the commander of the mutinous Georgian National Guard battalion told reporters: "I feel ashamed and I can't look into the eyes of my soldiers and officers.

"The soldiers serve practically barefoot, the service conditions are very poor. Officers haven't received their salaries for more than a year."

Shevardnadze said: "The state is no less guilty than they are in what has happened -- in normal conditions this would not have happened," Reuters quoted him as saying after the talks.

The protest began on Friday morning with a 400-strong National Guard battalion, armed with three tanks, two armoured personnel carriers and submachine guns, appropriating the base in Mukhrovani, about 25 kilometres (15 miles) east of Tbilisi.

Their numbers swelled to about 1,000 when they were joined by Interior Ministry troops, said Major General Dzhemal Chumburidze, of the national guard.

After Friday night's talks, the troops returned to their barracks at Noria, about 20 kilometres (12 miles) east of the capital.

Shevardnadze later said to mark the 10th anniversary: "I congratulate you on the 10th anniversary of independence.

"In our country, not all is as it should be. We have suffered chaos and civil war.

"But I promise, you will live in a flourishing country with territorial integrity."