WASHINGTON -- The United States has moved to close the book on the fatal shooting of a CIA agent in the ex-Soviet republic of Georgia, by agreeing with the Georgian government's view of events that the attack was a random act of violence, not politically motivated.


Anzor Sharmaidze, who allegedly killed Fred Woodruff in the American's car 40 kilometers north of Tbilisi, was convicted by a Georgian court in February and sentenced to 15 years hard labor.


But since the arrest of CIA agent Aldrich Ames last month on charges of spying for the Soviet Union and Russia, new conspiracy theories arose in the Woodruff case.


The New York Times reported recently that Ames, who was alleged to have given the Soviets and Russians information that caused the deaths of a number of U.S. spies, was in the Georgian capital of Tbilisi shortly before Woodruff was killed.


But the State Department, in a written statement issued Monday, said U.S. law enforcement officials conducted an investigation and determined the attack on Woodruff "was a random act of violence and was not politically motivated."