Radical Georgian ex-priest held

Mkalavishvili, a fiery speaker, has railed against Jehovah's Witnesses

Georgian police have raided a church to detain a radical ex-Orthodox priest after a clash with his supporters.

Vasily Mkalavishvili, known for his fierce attacks on religious minorities, had barricaded himself inside a church in the capital, Tbilisi.

More than 100 police destroyed its door with trucks, before using tear gas and batons in a violent clash with his supporters in the building.

Some 20 people, including children, were injured, reports said.

Mr Mkalavishvili was excommunicated by the Georgian Orthodox Church in 1996 after he admitted his followers had - on his orders - ransacked Jehovah's Witnesses premises.

Georgia does not exist right now. It is only another US state, whose governor is George Soros Ex-priest Vasily Mkalavishvili

They also burnt bibles belonging to the Baptist Evangelical Church, he said.

In July, a court issued an arrest warrant pending a trial.

Police tried to detain him, but Mr Mkalavishvili and the followers of his new church resisted.

According to AFP news agency, he gave a press conference on Thursday in which he strongly criticised Georgia's new pro-Western government and its US-educated President, Mikhail Saakashvili.

Hunger strike

"Georgia does not exist right now," he was quoted as saying.

"It is only another US state, whose governor is George Soros" - a reference to the US billionaire philanthropist.

He also criticised what he said were government plans to register the Jehovah's Witnesses.

A police spokeswoman said Mr Mkalavishvili was arrested on charges of damaging property and staging riots.

Dozens of his supporters gathered outside the detention centre where he was being held.

They said they were launching a hunger strike.