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http://www.russiajournal.com/news/index.shtml?nd=12371#n12371 The Russia Journal Thursday 21 March, 2002 1)Abkhazia: Georgia ratcheting up pressure MOSCOW - The leader of Georgia's breakaway region of Abkhazia said Thursday that the Georgian government was trying to paint his region as a haven for terrorists in order to pave the way for possible military action. Abkhazian Prime Minister Anri Dzhergeniya said Georgia had taken a much tougher line on Abkhazia ever since last month's announcement that U.S. special forces would be training Georgian troops to fight terrorists. "Lately Georgian officials have started spreading the idea that some kind of terrorists are in Abkhazia and that in the course of the fight against terrorism, an operation might be carried out on Abkhazian territory," Dzhergeniya told reporters in Moscow. Abkhazia, on the Black Sea, has been a flash point in relations between Russia and Georgia since the breakup of the Soviet Union. Separatists achieved de facto independence there in 1993 after a two-year war against Georgian troops. Russian peacekeepers have been deployed in the region since 1994, under the auspices of the Commonwealth of Independent States. The Georgian government recently extended their mandate but it remains uneasy about the Russian presence. Tensions increased this week when four Russian peacekeepers were abducted. They were later released in exchange for two Georgians held by Abkhazian authorities. Moscow blamed the kidnapping on guerillas linked to the Georgian government and it accused the government of fomenting unrest in Abkhazia. With U.S. special forces due to arrive soon for an anti-terror training mission in Georgia, Abkhazian officials are eager to distinguish their region from the Pankisi Gorge, where U.S. officials say international terrorists have taken refuge. "We are not concealing anything. We are prepared to show everything to military experts, international observers or U.N. officials any time, as of today," Dzhergeniya said. Dzhergeniya met with officials in Russia's Foreign Ministry and lawmakers in the State Duma, Russia's lower house of parliament. Dmitry Rogozin, the head of the Duma's international affairs committee, called on Russia to withhold oil and gas from Georgia to keep the government from escalating the conflict with Abkhazia. "If a lever of economic pressure is not used, we will get an expansion of military actions in the Caucasus, where the (Russian) North Caucasus will be drawn in," Rogozin was quoted as saying Thursday by the ITAR-Tass news agency. /The Associated Press/ 19:16 [Thursday 21st March, 2002] 2)Russia blames Georgia for violence MOSCOW - In one of the harshest attacks yet in the war of words between Moscow and Tbilisi, Russia's Foreign Ministry on Thursday accused Georgia's government of aiding militants and fomenting unrest in Georgia's breakaway province of Abkhazia. Georgia's "ambiguous position causes doubts about the sincerity of its intentions concerning not only the fight against terrorism, but issues relating to the political settlement of the Georgian-Abkhazian conflict," the ministry said. The statement came in response to the abduction Monday of four Russian servicemen in Abkhazia, which Moscow blamed on guerrillas linked to the Georgian government. The four soldiers were freed Tuesday in exchange for two Georgians who had been arrested by Abkhazian authorities last week. The ministry pointed to other alleged attacks by Georgian guerrillas in Abkhazia, and accused Georgia's government of failing to meet the United Nations' request to disband them. "They continue to operate, existing not only on money they get through robbery and extortion of civilians," the ministry said. "High-ranking Georgian officials keep their doors open for them." The ministry accused the Georgian government of supporting militants in order to "foment tension, build up unfounded accusations against Russian peacekeepers and thwart the negotiation process." Abkhazia has been a major source of tensions between Russia and Georgia throughout the decade following the Soviet Union's collapse. The Black Sea province won de facto independence in 1993 after separatists routed Georgian troops in a two-year war. Russian peacekeepers have been deployed in Abkhazia since 1994 under the auspices of the Commonwealth of Independent States, an alliance of former Soviet republics. Although the Georgian government accuses them of siding with separatists, it recently extended the Russians' mandate, fearing a new round of violence in case of their withdrawal. Georgia's parliament on Wednesday unanimously adopted a resolution urging the Russian peacekeepers' immediate withdrawal, saying they effectively act as a border guard force keeping Georgian refugees out of Abkhazia. Russian-Georgian ties have also been strained over Moscow's allegations that Georgia was harboring rebels from Russia's breakaway republic of Chechnya. Georgia has refused to let Russian forces to flush them out, and invited some 200 U.S. military instructors to train Georgian troops. Some Georgian officials alleged recently that al-Qaida-linked terrorists from Chechnya had entered Abkhazia. The Russian Foreign Ministry responded that such statements were intended to prepare public opinion for "new attempts to solve the Abkhazian problem by force." /The Associated Press/ __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Movies - coverage of the 74th Academy Awards® http://movies.yahoo.com/ --------------------------- ANTI-NATO INFORMATION LIST ==^================================================================ This email was sent to: archive@jab.org EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.a9617B Or send an email to: [EMAIL PROTECTED] T O P I C A -- Register now to manage your mail! http://www.topica.com/partner/tag02/register ==^================================================================
