HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK ---------------------------
Agence France-Presse Saturday April 13, 10:20 PM Russian troops leave area between Georgia, breakaway Abkhazia -On Friday Georgian President Eduard Shevardnadze said Russian units had agreed to withdraw by Saturday to head off a potential showdown. -The latest tension comes as US troops were expected in Georgia to help track down al-Qaeda terrorists allegedly hiding out there. -The CIS patrol had discovered that "Georgian forces had set up a mortar battery near the Russian post." Yevteyev said his men had come under fire. -Yevteyev said some 120 Georgian troops had surrounded his patrol but he had ordered his men not to use their weapons or respond to provocations, Interfax reported. Russian troops pulled out of disputed territory between Georgia and its breakaway region of Abkhazia, defusing what looked like an increasingly tense situation between Tbilisi and Moscow. But the commander of a Russian peacekeeper force warned Saturday that his men would be back. Georgia reacted sharply after the landing Friday of eight Russian helicopters and the deployment of dozens of troops in a village in Abkhazia. The small territory of Abkhazia on the Black Sea in northwestern Georgia has claimed de facto independence, fighting a short but bitter war in the early 1990s with Russian support. Georgia has lost all influence in Abkhazia and has accused Russian forces of helping the separatists. On Friday Georgian President Eduard Shevardnadze said Russian units had agreed to withdraw by Saturday to head off a potential showdown. General Alexander Yevteyev, commanding the Russian unit, said Saturday that "CIS peacekeeping forces in Abkhazia returned to their base" after patrols in the Kodori gorge. The CIS or Commonwealth of Independent States links 12 of the former constituent Soviet republics including Russia and the Caucasian republic of Georgia. But Yevteyev warned that future patrols would continue "at least once a week" in line with a protocol signed with Georgia on April 2. Tbilisi denies the existence of any prior agrement on such a patrol. The latest tension comes as US troops were expected in Georgia to help track down al-Qaeda terrorists allegedly hiding out there. Georgian Foreign Minister Irakli Menagarishvili has charged that the Russian action was aimed at obstructing US-Georgian cooperation. Shevardnadze said Friday he had told Yevteyev his troops must pull out by Saturday morning or the Russian peacekeeping mission in operation in Abkhazia since 1994 would be wound up. Moscow insists that the Russian deployment was in line with an agreement between Georgian and Abkhazia signed April 2, but Tbilisi denies there was any prior accord on the deployment. The Kodori region was occupied by Georgian troops following a flare-up of tension there last October. Georgia was meant to withdraw its forces by April 10 under the terms of a UN-brokered deal this month between Georgian and Abkhaz authorities. Interfax news agency quoted Yevteyev as saying that on Friday a CIS peacekeeping unit carried out a patrol in the lower and upper regions of Kodor gorges." During the sortie, the patrol had "noted violations of the protocol, under which Georgian soldiers were no longer to enter the area after April 10." The CIS patrol had discovered that "Georgian forces had set up a mortar battery near the Russian post." Yevteyev said his men had come under fire. But Georgian Deputy Defence Minister Miriam Tiknadze denied this allegation. Yevteyev said some 120 Georgian troops had surrounded his patrol but he had ordered his men not to use their weapons or respond to provocations, Interfax reported. __________________________________________________ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Tax Center - online filing with TurboTax http://taxes.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 ==^================================================================
