(TBILISI) - Separatist tension in Georgia flared Tuesday over the arrest of four Georgian soldiers as US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice fingered Russia as a source of trouble as she prepared to visit Tbilisi.

The Georgian government angrily termed the arrest of the four soldiers in the breakaway zone a "kidnapping" and vowed to free them.

The Georgian defence ministry later announced the four had been released, but the claim was denied by the South Ossetian defence minister.

The latest episode followed a trio of bomb attacks last week in Abkhazia, another breakaway region of Georgia, that left four dead and 16 hurt and prompted Abkhaz leaders to say they were cutting all ties with Tbilisi.

Speaking to reporters in Prague on the eve of a visit to Georgia, Rice explicitly blamed Russia for stoking instability in Abkhazia and South Ossetia.

"Frankly some of the things the Russians did over the last couple of months added to tension in the region," Rice told reporters, specifically citing failure to consult with Georgia on an offer for direct ties with Abkhazia.

"Georgia is an independent state. It has to be treated like one," she said, adding that Washington's commitment to Georgia's territorial integrity is "strong."

Rice was scheduled to fly to Tbilisi on Wednesday to hold talks with Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili. Strategically-located Georgia has become a key US ally in the region since Saakashvili came to power in January 2004.

Abkhazia and South Ossetia both declared their independence from Georgia -- and won brief but bloody wars against Georgian forces -- in the immediate aftermath of the 1991 collapse of the Soviet Union.

Saakashvili, backed by the United States, has vowed to reassert Tbilisi's authority over the provinces, but rebel leaders, tacitly supported by Russia, say they share no bonds with Georgia and have a right to self-determination.

They have cited international support for Kosovo's independence from Serbia as a relevant precedent for their causes.

Announcing the arrest of the four Georgian soldiers, the South Ossetian authorities said in a statement that the servicemen were wearing military uniforms and travelling in a car through the breakaway region around midnight.

The announcement of the arrests prompted a furious reaction from the Georgian government, which said the four soldiers were abducted while "visiting" the conflict zone.

Hours later, a spokeswoman for the Georgian defence ministry, Nana Intskiveli, told AFP that the four servicemen had been released and would be returned to Georgia in the central city of Gori, the birthplace of Stalin.

But South Ossetian defence minister Mikhail Mindzayev was quoted by Interfax news agency as denying the claim: "There have been no releases," he said.

Meanwhile in Brussels, the EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana issued a statement expressing worry about the spiralling tensions in Georgia's breakaway regions.

"I am seriously concerned about the deteriorating situation in the conflict regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia in Georgia," Solana said.

He said tension in the region was at a "dangerously high level" and called on the parties to show restraint and take steps to restore confidence.

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