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http://www.gazeta.ru/2002/09/26/Russiawontsu.shtml Gazeta.ru September 27, 2002 [excerpts] 'Russia won't succeed in exchanging Iraq for Georgia...' At least this is what Zurab Zhvania, ex-speaker of the Georgian parliament, has told Gazeta.Ru. That’s all true if we do not take into consideration the broadly discussed issue in Russian-US relations of ‘exchanging’ Iraq for Georgia. – I think that the American leaders have made it understood that such an exchange is out of the question. And let’s be frank, Russia is not in a position now to demand any exchanges from the USA, especially where it concerns Georgia, which has great importance not only for the USA, but also for the stability of the region as a whole… Washington’s latest statements testify to the contrary. The USA is currently mulling the setting up of a military base on Georgian territory. – The USA has said that they were ready to render assistance and take part in solving the problem if the Georgian authorities ask for it. I think we must make provisions from the fact that Georgia has decided everything by itself. That is what it is doing now. – The real problems are connected with Georgia’s orientation in foreign policy. In other words, Russia is worried by Georgia’s pro-NATO orientation? – Both this, and that Georgia is building the Baku-Ceyhan pipeline. Is the creation of the US military base on Georgian territory really that important? – Personally I think it is not necessary, just as the presence of Russian military bases is not necessary. ------------------------------------------------------- http://news.ft.com/servlet/ContentServer?pagename=FT.com/StoryFT/FullStory&c=StoryFT&cid=1031119707521&p=1012571727166 Financial Times September 27, 2002 Georgia warned over clashes By Andrew Jack in Moscow Fighting in the breakaway Russian republic of Chechnya spread to the neighbouring region of Ingushetia yesterday, in a day-long battle that left at least 14 federal soldiers dead. Fears that the conflict could spread across the region intensified when Sergei Ivanov, Russia's defence minister, warned that the latest incident might prove "the final straw" and trigger retaliatory military attacks by Russia into Georgia. Mr Ivanov, speaking from Warsaw, said attacks against Russian forces from bases in Georgia were "unfortunately happening frequently", and repeated President Vladimir Putin's statement earlier this month that Russia had the right to self-defence. Russia has long accused Georgia of failing to control the Pankisi Gorge, which touches Chechnya, and aiding rebels. Georgia, in turn, has criticised Russia for allegedly bombing suspected bases on its territory. The Council of Europe this week added its calls for the two countries to avoid military action and find a peaceful solution to the conflict, while some politicians including Grigory Yavlinsky, head of Russia's liberal Yabloko party, argue that most Chechen rebels are not based in or armed from Georgia. However, the latest fighting - with indications that a band of up to 150 rebels reached Ingushetia from the Pankisi Gorge - risked souring conciliatory gestures by the Georgians this week, including a pledge to hand over 13 Chechens arrested crossing the border. Mr Ivanov confirmed that a Russian military helicopter had been shot down during the fighting around the village of Galashka near the south-western border of Chechnya, and said 40 rebels had been killed and a number taken hostage. A British television cameraman apparently accompanying the fighters appeared to have been killed. -------------------------------------------------------http://www.civil.ge/cgi-bin/newspro/fullnews.cgi?newsid1033046544,40498, Civil Georgia September 27, 2002 Georgia Let Chechen Fighters Go to Russia (Tbilisi, Civil Georgia, September 26, 2002) - "We do not hinder Chechen fighters' intention to leave Georgia and return to Russian Federation. If they manage to infiltrate into Russia this is Russia's problem and not Georgia's," Lasha Natsvlishvili, Georgian Deputy Minister of the State Security said at the news briefing today. Russia claims that the group of Chechen militants, which fights against the Russian troops in Russia's Ingush Republic at the moment, penetrated into Russia from Georgia. The Associated Press reported today that Chechen warlord Ruslan Gelaev and his fighters also left Georgia and is in Russian Federation at the moment. -------------------------------------------------------http://en.rian.ru/rian/index.cfm?prd_id=160&msg_id=2750235&startrow=31&date=2002-09-27&do_alert=0 MILITANTS GET AT RUSSIA FROM GEORGIAN TERRITORY -Among the militants killed in the clash was one John Scott, who had a British passport. He wore a NATO uniform and looked much like the rest of the gang. Presumably, he was a TV reporter. MOSCOW, September 27, 2002. /From RIA Novosti correspondent/--In the Ingush village of Galashki, the federal troops are still striving to eliminate what is left of a large Chechen bandit unit, which invaded the village after getting across the Russian-Georgian border on Thursday. By the account of the Ingush interior ministry, Galashki was attacked by a group of more than 200 militants, mainly Arab mercenaries. Previous to that, the mercenaries had effortlessly made their way into Georgia, a country whose authorities apparently find nothing wrong with the fact that there are training camps for international terrorists on their territory. The bandits were well-armed and equipped with portable air defence systems. The battle involved the 19th Division of Russia's interior ministry troops and the intelligence service of the 58th Army led by Lieutenant-General Valery Gerasimov, who killed and wounded about 40 militants and took several prisoners. The federal forces lost 14 people dead, according to the Russian defence ministry. During the fight, the militants shot down a Mi-24 helicopter of the federal forces. Anatoly Kvashnin, the head of the General Staff of the Russian armed forces, said the helicopter was downed with five shots fired from a portable air defence system. The militants also killed a local woman by the name of Arapkhanova, whom they shot to death. The information of the Russian presidential aide Sergei Yastrzhembsky that the gang had come from Georgia was confirmed by Chechen captives, who said they had undergone training in camps based in Georgia's Pankisi Gorge. They also said there were about 100 more militants on the Russian-Georgia border, waiting to invade the Russian territory. In all, the federal forces captured six militants, two of them Arabs. According to Yastrzhembsky's account, the gang (which included mercenaries from Britain, Turkey, Georgia and the Arab countries) was guided across the Georgian-Russian border by a Georgian and then led on by an Ingush. Among the militants killed in the clash was one John Scott, who had a British passport. He wore a NATO uniform and looked much like the rest of the gang. Presumably, he was a TV reporter. Different sources said the bandit unit was fronted by one Vitaly Smirnov, a Chechen native aged 25 or 26, who is better known as Abu Malik - a name he took when converting to Islam in Khattab's armed unit five years ago. Rumours said Smirnov joined the militants after having failed to enter a police school. Russian Defence Minister Sergei Ivanov, who was in Warsaw at the time of the clash, commented by saying that Russia's patience might be exhausted if the fact that the militants had arrived from the territory of Georgia was confirmed. On his part, the Russian presidential aide could neither confirm nor disprove the information the report that said the Ingush territory was invaded by Ruslan Gelayev's gang. The information still had to be checked, he noted. The military participating in the clash said about half of the gang had been eliminated. They also said there were Arabs among the dead militants. The Ingush interior ministry reported that the clash had claimed the lives of 20 soldiers. ------------------------------------------------------- http://www.ptd.net/webnews/wed/cp/Qrussia-chechnya-britain.Rl90_CSQ.html Britain 'gravely concerned' at journalist's reported death in Chechen clash -The press release says that Scott had been working on a self-financed project in the Pankisi Gorge area of Georgia, and was killed while travelling with a large group of Chechen fighters. -Scott, who was single, worked as a freelance television cameraman who had worked extensively in conflict areas, including Kosovo, Albania and Afghanistan. -"It is not for me to confirm that he was a journalist and not a rebel fighter," the [Georgian] spokesman added. LONDON, Sept 26 (AFP) - Britain's Foreign Secretary Jack Straw said Thursday he was gravely concerned at reports a British journalist was found dead in the Caucasian republic of Ingushetia after fighting there between Russian troops and Chechen rebels. British television agency Frontline Television said it believed the dead man was Roddy Scott, 31, a freelance cameraman who was associated with the organisation. "Although there has been no independent confirmation of his death, the passport numbers and other identification released by the Russian government tally with those held at the Frontline office in London," the agency said. Straw said in a statement: "Obviously it is a matter of grave concern that a British citizen has been killed." British officials in Moscow had been in contact with the Russian authorities about the incident, he added. Frontline's managing director Vaughan Smith said: "Roddy was a tenacious, courageous reporter. "Like many of us, he felt that the Chechen conflict had been woefully badly covered; unlike many, he had the determination and courage to go out and report on that situation." Scott, who was single, worked as a freelance television cameraman who had worked extensively in conflict areas, including Kosovo, Albania and Afghanistan. Frontline Television is an independent cooperative that acts as a support agency for freelance cameramen and women. Scott had been associated with the agency as an associate member of the cooperative for six years. A Georgian foreign ministry spokesman said earlier that a British citizen reported to have been found dead had a journalist's visa for Georgia, which borders both Ingushetia and Chechnya. "It is not for me to confirm that he was a journalist and not a rebel fighter," the spokesman added. Clashes erupted in the mountainous village of Galashki, in a mountainous Ingushetia border area, before dawn on Thursday between a group of Chechen rebels and Russian forces. According to Moscow, the Chechen guerrillas had crossed from Georgia into Ingushetia. Reacting to fighting that left at least 14 Russian soldiers dead and a helicopter shot down near his country's southern border with Georgia, Russian Defence Minister Sergei Ivanov said in Warsaw Thursday that Moscow would not hesitate to bomb the neighbouring country if "terrorists" crossed into its territory. Dozens of rebels were also reported killed in the clashes. Among them, Russian soldiers found the body of a Briton who had a Georgian visa in his passport, the Kremlin said earlier Thursday, giving his name as Scott Roderick John. According to the Russian presidency, troops found a video camera, several cassettes, a satellite phone and a notebook with writings in English near the man's body. __________________________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? New DSL Internet Access from SBC & Yahoo! http://sbc.yahoo.com --------------------------- ANTI-NATO INFORMATION LIST ==^================================================================ This email was sent to: archive@jab.org EASY UNSUBSCRIBE click here: http://topica.com/u/?a84x2u.bacIlu 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 ==^================================================================
