Former German Chancellor Schroeder Sees Saakashvili As "gambler"

Berlin - Former German chancellor Gerhard Schroeder has accused Georgia of provoking the recent hostilities with Russia by sending troops into South Ossetia and described President Mikheil Saakashvili as a "gambler," in an interview published Saturday.

"The moment that initiated the current hostilities was the Georgian invasion of South Ossetia," Schroeder told the German weekly Der Spiegel.

He declined to be drawn on whether Russia's response was disproportionate, saying that military conflicts developed their own dynamic.