KIEV, Dec. 15 - Interior Minister Arsen Avakov threw water at the reformist governor and former president of Georgia Mikheil Saakashvili, in the latest high-profile spat illustrating growing tensions within Kiev's pro-Western coalition, AFP reported.

The incident between the Odessa region governor close to President Petro Poroshenko and Avakov -- an ally of Prime Minister Arseniy Yatseniuk -- happened late Monday during a government meeting behind closed doors.

Avakov wrote in his Facebook Tuesday that he had thrown a glass of water at Saakashvili -- one of the most popular politicians in Ukraine -- in the course of a heated debate over the privatization of the Odessa chemical plant, one of the largest in the country.

Saakashvili, who was appointed this year, over recent weeks has accused the Yatseniuk government of corruption, particularly for rejecting the privatization of the plant.

His rivals meanwhile accused him of trying to sell it to a Russian tycoon despite the unprecedented crisis in the relations between Kiev and Moscow amid the ongoing conflict in eastern Ukraine.

"The governor of Odessa lost control over himself, started shouting at me 'You are corrupt!' and began to insult me," Avakov wrote, adding that he refrained from hitting him, instead throwing water in his face.

Saakashvili confirmed that Avakov had tried to throw a glass of water at him.

The governor, who received Ukrainian citizenship before his appointment and recently had his Georgian passport revoked, also accused Avakov and Yatseniuk of ordering him to "get the hell out" of Ukraine, remarks that were confirmed by other meeting participants.

He called for the video of the incident to be made public as proof of "indecent and provocative behavior" of the two men.

President Poroshenko was forced to close the meeting and the press conference on its results was cancelled.
The president's spokesman said "such altercations are a disgrace to the country," indicating that the altercation would not be broadcast.

This was the second incident within a week between the president's and prime minister's teams which make up the pro-Western coalition.

On Friday, a fight erupted in Ukraine's parliament after an MP from Poroshenko's faction picked up Yatseniuk and hoisted him away from the podium while the prime minister was defending his embattled government's record.

Such rows highlight the fragile nature of Ukraine's pro-Western coalition as it struggles with the economic crisis and the deadly conflict with pro-Russian rebels in the east of the country. (afp/ez)