TBILISI. Aug 26 (Interfax-AVN) - Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili told a government meeting on Wednesday that he had promoted deputy chief of the General Staff Vakhtang Kapanadze to head the General Staff.
Kapanadze's predecessor, Givi Iukuridze, "has done his best," Saakashvili said. "He graduated from the Frunze Academy in Russia. However, we are creating a new army which must meet NATO's standards and so appointing U.S.-educated people to key positions in the General Staff," he said.
Mamuka Nikolaishvili and David Nairashvili have been appointed deputy chiefs of the General Staff, Saakashvili said.