Rick Rozoff
Thu, 03 Oct 2002 03:27:13 -0700
HTTP://WWW.STOPNATO.ORG.UK --------------------------- http://en.rian.ru/rian/index.cfm?prd_id=160&msg_id=2762244&startrow=1&date=2002-10-02&do_alert=0 GEORGIAN FOREIGN MINISTER VISITS NATO HEADQUARTERS -At a news conference following the Council meeting, Menagarishvili confirmed Tbilisi is in talks with Ukraine about the option of buying air defenses designed, as he put it, "to shoot down airplanes, whoever they belong to," should these violate Georgia airspace. -The spokesman said NATO officials had "reaffirmed its respect for territorial integrity of Georgia.... BRUSSELS, October 2. /Viktor Onuchko, RIA Novosti correspondent/. Georgian Foreign Minister Irakli Menagarishvili on Tuesday paid a reportedly 'informal' visit to the headquarters of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization in Brussels, a fact confirmed to RIA Novosti by a high-ranking Alliance official. The official said the short meeting dealt primarily with the preparation of a treaty laying down the legal aspects of cooperation within the Partnership for Peace program between Georgia and a NATO agency in charge of disposal of dismantled weapons and of reclaiming land under defunct military installations. The Georgian envoy was met by NATO Secretary General George Robertson. Among other things, the two men talked about the situation in the Pankisi Gorge. Menagarishvili maintained the Georgian government was doing everything to keep the situation there under control. The spokesman said NATO officials had "reaffirmed its respect for territorial integrity of Georgia as well as other countries." Menagarishvili had traveled to Brussels to attend a foreign minister-level meeting of the EU-Georgia Cooperation Council. The EU at the meeting warned Georgia that the bloc's aid to Georgia would be contingent on the security situation in it, urging Tbilisi, among other things, to expedite the solution to the search for EU nationals abducted in the country in recent months. At a news conference following the Council meeting, Menagarishvili confirmed Tbilisi is in talks with Ukraine about the option of buying air defenses designed, as he put it, "to shoot down airplanes, whoever they belong to," should these violate Georgia airspace. The NATO spokesman declined to comment on Menagarishvili's remarks at the EU-Georgia Council, noting the problem is the concern of the two parties involved. -------------------------------------------------------http://www.civil.ge/cgi-bin/newspro/fullnews.cgi?newsid1033551647,88325, Civil Georgia October 3, 202 Two Died After Shooting Near Ossetian Conflict Zone -It is not ruled out that the large-scale anti-criminal operation might be conducted in the future in Shida Kartli [seven kilometers from the South Ossetian capital] region. President Shevardnadze at the briefing on September 30 did not excluded possibility of carrying out anti-criminal operations similar to that was conduced in Pankisi gorge, in other parts of Georgia as well. (Tbilisi, Civil Georgia, October 2, 2002) - Two died and one was injured after the shooting in the Village of Tkviavi, Shida Kartli region, which is 7 kilometers away from breakaway South Ossetian capital Tskhinvali, on October 1. Nodar Dalakishvli, chief of the Shida Kartli regional police department told the Civil Georgia today that couple of masked gunmen entered the restaurant in the village and opened fire. "It was not robbery. Attackers left the village after the shooting and allegedly hide in South Ossetia. Supposedly gunmen were Ossetians, but it is not confirmed yet," local police chief said. The criminal situation in Shida Kartli has extremely aggravated recently. Paata Gomelauri, Spokesman of the Georgian Interior Ministry told the Civil Georgia today that the Interior Minister Koba Narchemashvili might visit Shida Kartli on October 3, concerning the aggravated situation in the region. "We will decide this today," he added. He said that the Georgian authorities also discuss the possibility of meeting of the Georgian and Ossetian law enforcers. It is not ruled out that the large-scale anti-criminal operation might be conducted in the future in Shida Kartli region. President Shevardnadze at the briefing on September 30 did not excluded possibility of carrying out anti-criminal operations similar to that was conduced in Pankisi gorge, in other parts of Georgia as well. ------------------------------------------------------- http://www.civil.ge/cgi-bin/newspro/fullnews.cgi?newsid1033628313,76073, Civil Georgia October 3, 2002 Interior Minister in Shida Kartli Region (Tbilisi, Civil Georgia, October 3, 2002) - Interior Minister Koba Narchemashvili visits Shida Kartli region today where the criminal situation has extremely worsen recently. “The extended meeting of the Interior Ministry’s leadership and the regional police will be held in Gori [main city of Shida Kartli],” Paata Gomelauri, Spokesman of the Interior Ministry told the Civil Georgia on October 3. The Minister’s visit to this central part of Georgia, which neighbors with breakaway South Ossetia, follows the murder of two Georgians on October 1 by the gunmen in the Georgian village 7 kilometers away from Tskhinvali, capital of South Ossetia. The law enforcers suppose that the attackers were Ossetian criminals. On October 2 Deputy Secretary of the Georgian National Security Council Jemal Gakhokidze told the reporters that there is a special order of President Shevardnadze to restore order in Shida Kartli region. It is not excluded that the special anti-criminal operation, similar to that was carried out in Pankisi gorge, will be conducted in Shida Kartli. ------------------------------------------------------- http://www.civil.ge/cgi-bin/newspro/fullnews.cgi?newsid1033566009,49926, Civil Georgia October 3, 2002 US Intensifies Activity on Abkhazian Issue (Tbilisi, Civil Georgia, October 2, 2002) - On October 1, the United States representative for Eurasian conflicts Rudolf Perina met Georgian President Eduard Shevardnadze and State Minister Avtandil Jorbenadze and discussed the situation in the conflict zones in Georgia. "We have considered the conflicts in Abkhazia and South Ossetia, discussed the ways of settling them and, I must say, our opinions are the same," Rudolf Perina said at the briefing after the meeting with the Georgian leadership. The US envoy's visit to Georgia followed Georgian Foreign Minister Irakli Menagharishvili's visit to the United States in late September. After the visit in the US, Menagharishvili said that the United States would be involved in the settlement of the Abkhazian conflict more actively in the future. Rudolf Perina said in Tbilisi that the US does not intend to ignore Russian role in the conflict settlement. ------------------------------------------------------- http://en.rian.ru/rian/index.cfm?prd_id=160&msg_id=2763604&startrow=1&date=2002-10-03&do_alert=0 CHECHEN WAR LORDS IN GEORGIA IN COMMAND OF PANKISI TERRORISTS Moscow, October 3rd, 2002 /from a RIA Novosti correspondent/ -- According to Russian law-enforcers, Chechen warlords are supervising the actions of terrorists in Russia, from the Pankisi Gorge of Georgia. To quote the information department of the Russian president, the so-called anti-criminal operation of the Georgian authorities does not prevent terrorists from plotting and committing their crimes against Russia from Georgian territory. "It is worth mentioning that terrorist leaders prefer to supervise the activities of their subordinates from a secure place, i.e. the Pankisi Gorge in this case," stressed the department. As an evidence, the department referred to the fact that "the overall command over bandit groups, the majority of which were destroyed by the federals and the Ingush police near the Galashki settlement," was carried out by the so-called deputy of Ruslan Gelayev - an international terrorist Abdul Malik Mezhidov who was staying in the Pankisi Gorge. According to the latest data, in Gelayev's gang, Mezhidov is in charge of financial issues and transporting militants from Georgia to Russia. The department added that terrorist Abdul Malik Mezhidov and militant Vladimir Smirnov who took the name of Abdul-Malik after getting converted into Islam, were two different persons. Smirnov's gang was 10-men strong, but some of its members were destroyed or detained during a special operation in the Shelkovskoy district of Chechnya. Abdul-Malik Mezhidov, a Chechen from Daghestan, was in command of the Sharia guard under Aslan Maskhadov. Then he became head of the Sharia punishment department of Ichkeria, where he displayed inventive brutality and cruelty, said the department. Mezhidov belonged to the entourage of such terrorists as Jordanian Khattab and Chechen Basayev. ------------------------------------------------------- http://www.themoscowtimes.com/stories/2002/10/03/011.html Moscow Times October 3, 2002 A Videotape Provides Pankisi Proof By Simon Saradzhyan Staff Writer Although a videotape apparently shot by a British reporter provides compelling evidence that Chechen rebels are allowed to move freely in Georgia's Pankisi Gorge, Russia will hold off from taking any action until President Vladimir Putin meets with Georgian President Eduard Shevardnadze this weekend, analysts said. Rossia television broadcast a video this week of Chechen rebels crossing from Pankisi to North Ossetia and then sneaking into Ingushetia, where they fought Russian forces near the village of Galashki. Rossia said the footage was shot by Roddy Scott, a freelance British reporter who apparently was killed in the fighting. "The tape is evidence that Chechen rebels can move freely through Georgian territory," said Dmitry Rogozin, the chairman of the State Duma's international affairs committee. The tape starts with a short monologue by Scott, who says he plans to travel to Georgia and then to Chechnya. The next scene shows armed, bearded men in camouflage fatigues, camped out on the side of a grassy hill. One of the men jokingly tells Scott that he will die a Moslem martyr. "Roddy, you will soon become a shakhid," the man said. Scott reportedly died last Thursday when a bullet pierced the lens of his camera. The footage then shows the rebels taking down their tents, loading equipment onto horses and walking up a mist-covered hill. One piece of equipment has a tubular shape, similar to that of a shoulder-fired anti-aircraft missile. The rebels, carrying bulky backpacks, can be heard breathing heavily and gasping in the thin mountain air. Then the video abruptly zooms in on a low-flying Russian helicopter. It ends with a shot of motionless bodies dressed in camouflage lying on ground. Rebels seized in the fighting near Galashki have said there were 200 men in their group. The rebels managed to shoot down a Russian helicopter and burn an armored vehicle before scattering into nearby forests. It is unclear whether any rebels had fled back into Georgia. The military said 17 soldiers and 80 rebels died in the clash. AP Rebels, on the same videotape, preparing to cross a stream at an unknown location. Alexander Pikayev, a senior researcher at the Moscow Carnegie Center, said the footage "is rather solid evidence" supporting Russia's case that Chechen rebels are able to move about unrestricted in Pankisi and could carry out strikes in Russia. "The fact that they did not try to hide when camping indicates that they were someplace in Georgia," Pikayev said. However, he said, Russia will not make good on a threat to carry out strikes in Pankisi until after Putin speaks with Shevardnazde at a summit of Commonwealth of Independent States leaders in Moldova on Sunday. "Putin has made it clear that there should be no strikes until he meets with Shevardnadze," Pikayev said. Putin warned Georgia on Sept. 11 that Russian planes might launch strikes in Pankisi and asked the military to draw up plans. However, he toned down his rhetoric a few days later, saying he was looking forward to discussing the Pankisi problem with Shevardnadze on Sunday. Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov apparently took the hint and did not order any strikes after federal troops detected the 200 Chechen rebels last week. Ivanov only said the incident might be the last straw. Pikayev predicted that Shevardnadze would offer some concessions in order to defuse tensions at the Sunday meeting. But the concessions are unlikely to go beyond the extradition of 13 Chechen rebels caught while crossing into Russia, he said. Moscow has long accused Tbilisi of harboring Chechen rebels in Pankisi. Georgia responded by launching what it called an "anti-criminal operation" in Pankisi in August. Shevardnadze declared the gorge free of Chechen rebels on Monday. A deputy Georgian security minister said last week that the operation had been designed to push the rebels back into Russia. __________________________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? 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