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http://www.civil.ge/cgi-bin/newspro/fullnews.cgi?newsid1032870358,99266, Civil Georgia (Open Society Institute) September 25, 2002 Delegation of French General Staff Visits Georgia (Tbilisi, Civil Georgia, September 24, 2002) - Delegation of General Staff of the French Armed Forces visits Tbilisi and holds talks with Georgia's Defense Ministry officials. During the visit the sides will sign a document concerning cooperation in the defense sphere. The sides discuss the matters of what particular aid Georgian Defense needs and how the France can assist it. According to Gela Bejuashvili, Deputy Minister, during his meeting with the French delegation they spoke about Georgia's integration in Euro-Atlantic community and the military assistance the French Republic intends to provide to Georgia. ------------------------------------------------------- http://www.eurasianet.org/departments/insight/articles/eav092402.shtml Eurasianet (Open Society Institute) September 25, 2002 US PROPOSES NEW TRILATERAL SECURITY ARRANGEMENT FOR GEORGIA Jaba Devdariani -"The United States continues to be loyal to its commitments to help Georgia," Bush said in the letter, according to a report by the Kavkasia-Press news agency. "It is particularly essential that actions be taken inside Georgia to ensure the country�s energy security." Georgia is to serve as a transit country for the US-backed Baku-Ceyhan pipeline, which will bring Caspian Basin energy reserves to Western markets. -A statement issued by the command of Russian forces in the Transcaucasus complained of "increasingly frequent cases of illegal detentions, checks and persecution by the Georgian military road police of Russian military cars and trucks � carrying out their service duties." Some US experts say Washington�s response would be "strict and sharp" if Russia launched a military strike in the Pankisi region. "Most US experts that I communicated with believe that the [potential] re-establishment of Russian hegemony over a former Soviet republic could lead to a domino effect," said Lt. Col. Kakha Katsitadze, head of the Strategic Planning and Armaments Department at the Georgian Defense Ministry. -....the United States may be inclined to expand military and political cooperation with Tbilisi, Katsitadze suggested. The United States has provided Georgia assurances that Washington will not make a deal with Moscow that would sanction a Russian military operation in the Pankisi Gorge. At the same time, US officials are proposing a new type of trilateral security arrangement, under which the United States and Russia are jointly involved in tackling Georgian instability. The US proposal serves as a riposte to the September 11 threat issued by Russian President Vladimir Putin, who said Russia might take unilateral military action on Georgian soil if Tbilisi does not step up efforts to contain Chechen fighters operating in the Pankisi Gorge. Since Putin�s statement, Russian leaders and Moscow�s media have maintained steady pressure on Georgia. US President George W. Bush sent Georgian leader Eduard Shevardnadze a letter of support on September 19 that reiterated Washington�s commitment to strengthening its relationship with Tbilisi. Some political analysts suggest Putin�s ultimatum was designed to forge a deal with the United States, essentially a trade in which Russia would not act to prevent US strikes against Iraq in return for the Bush Administration�s acquiescence to a dominant role for Russia in Georgia. Bush�s letter confirmed that the United States would stand by Tbilisi. "Your [Georgia�s] government relies on this [US] support in efforts to restore its jurisdiction in the Pankisi Gorge and Georgia as a whole," Bush said in his letter to Shevardnadze. "The United States continues to be loyal to its commitments to help Georgia," Bush said in the letter, according to a report by the Kavkasia-Press news agency. "It is particularly essential that actions be taken inside Georgia to ensure the country�s energy security." Georgia is to serve as a transit country for the US-backed Baku-Ceyhan pipeline, which will bring Caspian Basin energy reserves to Western markets. Shevardnadze participated in the pipeline�s groundbreaking ceremony September 18 in Baku. The United States unveiled its trilateral security proposal on September 20. US National Security Adviser Condoleezza Rice outlined the plan in Washington during discussions with her Georgian counterpart, Tedo Japaridze. At about the same time, Bush reportedly mentioned the initiative during talks at the White House with Russia�s defense and foreign ministers, Sergei Ivanov and Igor Ivanov. According to Japaridze, the United States and Russia have been conducting a dialogue on Georgian security issues for eight years. But the US proposal marks the first time that Tbilisi will have input in the ongoing discussion. The Georgian National Security Council chief said he expected regular trilateral consultations to begin in the near future. However, Russia�s reaction to the US initiative has been lukewarm. "The experience of creating different kinds of commissions shows that they [commissions] cannot help in solving the problems. There is no need in creation of commission. Only political will may solve problems at the Georgian-Russian border," Igor Ivanov said. Some analysts say the US proposal has thrown Moscow on the defensive. Russian defense analyst Pavel Felgenhauer, writing in the Moscow Times, said that Putin is now searching for "a way out of a failed bluff." The Russian president, Felgenhauer added, "seems to have issued a strongly worded Soviet-style threat against a neighboring nation with no Soviet-style force to back it up." Although encouraged by US support, Georgian officials remain wary of possible Russian military action. Moscow in recent days has maintained its belligerent rhetoric. In addition to criticizing the lawless conditions in Pankisi, Russian military officials recently began to accuse Tbilisi of harassing Russian troops based in Georgia. A statement issued by the command of Russian forces in the Transcaucasus complained of "increasingly frequent cases of illegal detentions, checks and persecution by the Georgian military road police of Russian military cars and trucks � carrying out their service duties." Some US experts say Washington�s response would be "strict and sharp" if Russia launched a military strike in the Pankisi region. "Most US experts that I communicated with believe that the [potential] re-establishment of Russian hegemony over a former Soviet republic could lead to a domino effect," said Lt. Col. Kakha Katsitadze, head of the Strategic Planning and Armaments Department at the Georgian Defense Ministry. Shevardnadze is now slated to meet with Putin on October 5 during a Commonwealth of Independent States summit. That meeting will provide an indicator of Russia�s response to the latest US moves. Ultimately, Putin�s September 11 threat may backfire, doing more to erode Russia�s influence in Georgia than to restore it. If Georgia manages to improve security in the Pankisi Gorge on its own, the United States may be inclined to expand military and political cooperation with Tbilisi, Katsitadze suggested. Editor�s Note: Jaba Devdariani is a Founding Director of the UN Association of Georgia (www.una.org.ge) and editor of Civil Georgia (www.civil.ge) - Internet magazine offering civil view on life in Georgia. ------------------------------------------------------- http://en.rian.ru/rian/index.cfm?prd_id=160&msg_id=2744282&startrow=11&date=2002-09-25&do_alert=0 A GROUP OF ARMED PEOPLE DETAINED OSCE INSPECTORS ON RUSSIAN-GEORGIAN BORDER MOSCOW, September 25th, 2002 /from RIA Novosti correspondent Vladimir Pakhomov/ -- A group of armed people has detained OSCE inspectors in the Ingush section of the Russian-Georgian border. This information is contained in the Wednesday message sent by the OSCE mission in Georgia to RIA Novosti. According to the document, "the OSCE inspectors were detained by a group of unknown armed people in the western part of the border between Georgia and the Ingush Republic of the Russian Federation." The message ran that this happened in the afternoon of September 20th. Then the patrol was allowed to leave the region and return to the base. The OSCE message reads that the patrolling of the mentioned region has been stopped for awhile. The OSCE patrols were stationed one kilometer south of the border when this incident happened. The OSCE inspectors registered 12 well-armed people and several hideouts," the OSCE message reads. ------------------------------------------------------- http://www.turkishdailynews.com/FrTDN/latest/for2.htm#f24 Turkish Daily News September 24, 2002 Shevardnadze: Baku-Ceyhan pipeline will increase Georgia's GDP by 10 percent President Eduard Shevardnadze of Georgia said Monday that the Baku-Ceyhan pipeline which will carry oil from the Caspian Sea basin to a Turkish port will increase his nation's gross domestic product by almost 10 percent. In his weekly radio address, Shevardnadze said that oil transit fees from the pipeline alone would net Georgia $63 million annually. This former Soviet republic has slumped into poverty since the Soviet Union fell apart in 1991, and political conflict, corruption and instability on its borders have prevented large-scale investments in Georgia. Ground was broken last week on the $3 billion dollar Baku-Ceyhan pipeline, which eventally could pump hundreds of millions of barrels of oil a year to Western markets. Construction is expected to be completed by early 2004. The first oil is expected to flow a year later. Speaking at the ground breaking ceremony, Shevardnadze declared the project to be Georgia's main achievement in the past 10 years since it declared independence. Georgia is heavily dependent on Russia for energy and the project should help diversify its energy supplies. Tbilisi - The Associated Press __________________________________________________ Do you Yahoo!? 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