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| Caucasus |
| Georgia sees rebels as Russia's problem |
| 2002-08-29 |
| A Georgian official said yesterday that troops taking part in an operation to round up Chechen fighters in the Pankisi Gorge, on Georgia's border with Russia, were under orders not to arrest any of the guerrillas. "The fighters are Russia's problem," said a high-ranking official in Georgia's National Security Ministry who is taking part in the operation. The official, who did not want to be identified, said Georgian commanders knew the location of a band of Chechen fighters but had no plans to engage them. He said the Chechen group was in the village of Tsinaubani, at the southern end of the gorge. Local residents said the band was led by seasoned Chechen field commanders known as the Akhmadov brothers. "We have deliberately avoided and are now avoiding armed conflict with them. We do not intend to start a war with them and put at risk our troops and thousands of innocent people. We are already doing enough," the official said. "I mean, like, this has nothing to do with national sovreignity. Those bastards have live ammunition!" A local policemen said the authorities had made contact with the Chechens and given them an ultimatum to leave or face being removed by force. The acknowledgment came on the same day that Russian President Vladimir Putin expressed doubts that the Georgian troops would be able to track down the Chechen fighters without help from Russian forces. Apparently they're able to track them down. They just can't actually do anything about them. Can we have our money back now, please? Thanks to Steve for the headzup! |
| Posted by:Fred Pruitt |
| #3 After Iosarian Djuglashvilli, do you think Moscow actually wants Georgians to speak Russian again? I suspect they just want Georgia to be the quaint rustic armpit it was before 1800. |
| Posted by: Tom Roberts 2002-08-29 19:16:53 |
| #2 Coalitions are like staff meetings. The more people attending, the less gets done. |
| Posted by: Steve 2002-08-29 12:15:20 |
| #1 Can't anybody get a counter-terror coalition going? We are wasting a lot of time, and the enemy is taking advantage. |
| Posted by: Allah the Dog Faced God 2002-08-29 11:32:30 |