| Shevardnadze also told journalists on 25 March that there is currently no need to launch a full-scale operation against either Chechen fighters or putative Islamic militants in the Pankisi Gorge, Interfax reported. But "Time" in its 1 April European edition affirmed that "the U.S. government believes that on any given day between 10 and 80 international terrorists with links to Al-Qaeda are in the [Pankisi] Gorge. Most are from Saudi Arabia or Jordan, with possibly some Algerians. Washington will not say what Al-Qaeda is doing there, but stresses they are neither stragglers from Afghanistan, nor there by accident." |