Four Russian officers suspected of spying were arrested in Georgia, sparking furious demands in Moscow for their immediate release. \"Four Russian officers from the military intelligence service (GRU) and 12 citizens of Georgia who were spying in Tbilisi, Batumi and all over Georgian territory were arrested in a special operation,\" Georgian Interior Minister Vano Merabishvili told a press briefing. Merabishvili added that the Georgian authorities wanted to question a fifth Russian officer, who the Georgian authorities fear may attempt to flee the country via \"diplomatic channels.\" Moscow reacted furiously to the news with the Russian foreign ministry calling for the \"immediate release\" of the four and accusing Tblisi of an \"anti-Russian policy.\" The ministry said in a statement that it had called in Georgia\'s ambassador to Russia and \"passed him a note demanding that the Georgian authorities release the Russian officers immediately.\" The head of Russia\'s armed forces, General Yuri Baluyevski, reacted with equal anger, accusing Georgian Defence Minister, Iraki Okruachvili of acting \"arbitrarily,\" interfax reported. The foreign ministry statement added that the Georgian accusations against the Russian soldiers were \"baseless\" and constituted a \"brutal act showing that Georgia\'s leaders are carrying out an anti-Russian policy.\"On Wednesday evening, several hundred police vehicles were seen surrounding the Tbilisi headquarters for Russian military bases that cover Georgia, Azerbaijan and Armenia. The Georgian authorities are understood to believe the fifth officer they want to question may be hiding in the building. Tblisi suspects the five officers of gathering information on Georgia\'s military capacity, its energy resources and on NATO-run programmes in the country, Merabishvili told journalists. Two of the arrested officers were lieutenant colonels, who were apprehended in Tblisi. The other two, the captain of a frigate and another lieutenant colonel, were arrested in Batumi, western Georgia, where Russia has a military base. The espionage activities had been going on for \"a number of years,\" Merabishvili said. The interior minister added that the 12 Georgians arrested with the Russian \"spies\" were accused of \"high treason.\" The officers are also accused of having been \"implicated\" in a bomb attack in the town of Gori, 80 kilometres (50 miles) west of Tblisi, which killed three police officers and injured 23 other people. (AFP)