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'Phone taps prove Russia aggression'
Georgia claims intercepted phone calls prove its attack against South Ossetia started 20 hours after an invasion by Russian troops. Russia dismissed the allegations as "not serious". The recordings released Tuesday by Georgia aimed to blame Moscow for the five-day war that killed hundreds of people. The recordings are purportedly intercepts of two exchanges between a South Ossetian border guard at the southern entrance to the Roki tunnel, and another guard at the headquarters in the South Ossetian capital. According to the English translations of the recordings, in the first call, which purportedly began at 3:41 a.m. local time on Aug. 7, the South Ossetian guard at the tunnel says "they have moved armored personnel carriers out and the tunnel is full." In the next call, about 10 minutes later, the guard says "armor and people" had emerged from the tunnel. Asked whether there was a lot of armor, the guard says, "Well, tanks, BMPs and those things." Russia said the force movements referred to in the intercepts may have been a routine rotation by Russian peacekeeping forces already operating in Georgia before the war broke out. The tunnel, which connects the South Ossetia to Russia, is over 2 miles (3.7 kilometers) long. "Allegations that they have eavesdropped on someone and heard something are simply not serious,'' Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Andrei Nesterenko said. Ever since Georgia and Russia's engagement in a five-day war last month, both sides have tried to prove the other as the first aggressor in the hopes of shedding the blame for the death of hundreds of people. Posted by: Fred 2008-09-17 |
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