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http://www.russiajournal.ru/news/rj_news.shtml?nd=1890 The Russia Journal March 29, 2002 DM: Russian troop could stay in Georgia -"The latest events in Georgia could be reflected in the dates for the withdrawal of Russian military bases from the territory of this republic." -...Abkhazian [authorities] fear that the newly trained Georgian troops could be unleashed against their territory. MOSCOW (Associated Press) - Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov said Thursday that the withdrawal of Russian troops from Georgia could be set back by new tensions between Georgia and the separatist province of Abkhazia. "The latest events in Georgia could be reflected in the dates for the withdrawal of Russian military bases from the territory of this republic," Ivanov said, according to the Interfax-Military News Agency. Abkhazia, a lush province on the Black Sea, won de facto independence in 1993 after a two-year war against Georgian forces. Some 300,000 Georgians fled Abkhazia and the region has remained tense for much of the past decade, with frequent shootings and explosions. The tensions have risen even more following last month's announcement that U.S. military instructors would soon launch a program to train Georgian troops in anti-terrorist techniques. Though the program is intended to help Georgia fight alleged terrorists in its lawless Pankisi Gorge region on the border with Russia's breakaway republic of Chechnya, Abkhazian separatists fear that the newly trained Georgian troops could be unleashed against their territory. Russia had four military bases in Georgia left over from the Soviet era. Russian forces pulled out from one - Vaziani, near the capital Tbilisi - by July 1, as scheduled. But their withdrawal from a base in Gudauta, in Abkhazia, which was also to have been completed by July, was put off indefinitely after Abkhazians protested. The pullout from the other two bases has yet to be negotiated. Ivanov also said that Washington had not made a final decision to send military instructors to Georgia, Interfax reported. "In part, this is tied with the fact that we have begun to articulate our concern about international security more clearly," he was quoted as saying. Many Russian politicians have reacted angrily to Washington's plans in Georgia, but President Vladimir Putin reacted calmly - much in the same way as he gave a green light to the deployment of U.S. forces in former Soviet republics in Central Asia to support the anti-terrorism campaign in Afghanistan. __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Greetings - send holiday greetings for Easter, Passover http://greetings.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 ==^================================================================
