A Georgian television channel has apologized for broadcasting a fake news report about a supposed invasion of Russian troops and murder of President Mikheil Saakashvili, after being strictly criticized by the county's authorities.

"We present apologies to the public for the demonstration as part of the Khronika newscast of the special report, which was an imitation and did not correspond to reality," a creeping line on the TV channel says.

The program, called Special Report, was shown on the private Imedi TV channel on Saturday evening.

The broadcast, which used the channel's normal news graphics, began with a warning that the program showed a sequence of possible events that could occur "if Georgian society is not brought together against Russia's plans."

The news item included clips of panicked residents trying to flee Tbilisi and reported that there was panic in Gori, Mtskheta and other regions.

The staged images and words rung true, however, when viewers who did not see the introduction took the report at face value. People from all over the country began to call each other and the TV studio to find out what was really happening.

The demonstration of the report intended to illustrate a studio discussion on the chance of a fresh conflict between Russia and Georgia, forced the Georgian authorities to calm public fears.

"I can say with confidence that, on the declaration of the president, real danger, which was imagined in the transmission...does not currently exist for our country," a spokeswoman for President Mikheil Saakashvili said.

Manana Manjgaladze, who rushed to the studios of Imedi TV following the broadcast to join the subsequent discussion, criticized the channel for not making greater efforts to alert viewers to the fact that the report was not true.

Imedi TV admitted that the report "caused a big concern among the citizens."

Meanwhile, the Tbilisi Emergency Medical Service dismissed media allegations that the "catastrophic" increase in the number of heart attacks was registered in the city following the broadcast.

Russia's envoy to NATO, Dmitry Rogozin, called the TV channel's stunt "criminal" and declared that in the wake of Friday's meeting of the NATO-Georgia council it should show the military alliance not to deal with Saakashvili.

Former Georgian republics, Abkhazia and South Ossetia, which Russia recognized as independent in August 2008 after its forces repelled a Georgian attack on the latter republic, have also dismissed the broadcast.

TBILISI, March 13 (RIA Novosti)