Georgia's state security accuses jailed ex-president of plotting coup -report

FILE PHOTO: Mikheil Saakashvili, Georgia's former President and newly appointed head of the executive committee of Ukraine's National Reform Council, speaks during an interview with Reuters at his house in the village of Lisnyky outside Kiev, Ukraine May 8, 2020. REUTERS/Valentyn Ogirenko

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Georgia's state security service said on Saturday that planned opposition protests were part of a planned coup devised and directed by jailed former president Mikheil Saakashvili, Russia's TASS news agency reported.

The claim sets the stage for a potentially tense standoff between security forces and opposition supporters, who plan to rally later on Saturday outside the prison where Saakashvili is being held in the town of Rustavi, southeast of the capital.