IWPR's Caucasus Reporting Service, No. 100: excerpts
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Subject: IWPR's Caucasus Reporting Service, No. 100: excerpts
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IWPR's Caucasus Reporting Service, No. 100: excerpts
WELCOME TO IWPR'S CAUCASUS REPORTING SERVICE, No. 100, October 5, 2001
EDITOR'S NOTE - In light of the international crisis over Afghanistan,
IWPR will be archiving any relevant articles from all our services:
http://www.iwpr.net/index.pl?intcrisis_index.html.
We also strongly urge readers to subscribe to IWPR's Reporting Central
Asia, Balkan Crisis Reports and Tribunal Update:
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BIN LADEN'S AZERI CONNECTIONS Osama bin Laden's links with Azerbaijan
stretch back to the mid-nineties. By Samir Razimov in Baku.
ABKHAZ BORDER CLASHES Moscow is losing patience with Georgia over its
reluctance to crackdown on Chechen rebels based in the country. By
Michael Vignanski in Tbilisi.
ARMENIA: THE TEFLON PRESIDENT Opposition parties accuse Robert
Kocharian of untold number of wrongdoings - to no avail. By Petr
Magdashian in Yerevan.
..............
ABKHAZ BORDER CLASHES
Moscow is losing patience with Georgia over its reluctance to
crackdown on Chechen rebels based in the country.
By Michael Vignanski in Tbilisi.
Sporadic clashes between Abkhaz troops and groups of Chechen and
Georgian fighters in the north-west of the country is sparking concern
of renewe violence in the region.
Abkhazia mobilised its army this week after one of its soldiers was
killed in fighting around the village of Geogievskoe, in the north of
the breakaway region. The Sukhumi authorities told the Tbilisi-based
Prime News Agency that its forces had captured one Chechen and one
Georgian soldier following the clashes.
The UN has already expressed concern about growing tensions in the
area, warning that an "armed group, comprising Georgian partisans and
fighters from Russia's North Caucasus republics" threaten renewed
military activity there.
The Russian news agency, Interfax, reported at the end of August that
800 Georgian and Chechen fighters, led by Chechen commander Ruslan
Gelaev, were "preparing to launch attacks on the (Abkhaz) republic".
If the tensions escalate, Georgia could face the wrath of the Russian
military, as Moscow is itching for an excuse to deal with Chechen
fighters hiding out on Georgian territory since the resurgence of
fighting in Chechnya in 1999.
Anxious not to get involved in the conflict in Chechnya, Georgia has
turned a blind eye to the presence of Chechen insurgents on its soil,
provoking Russian claims that it is aiding and abetting the rebels.
Having long denied their presence, Tbilisi recently admitted that
Chechen rebels are operating in the Pankisi Gorge in the north-east
and the Kodori Gorge, which spans the Georgian-Abkhaz border. "If
Georgia is wrong, it will admit it and will try to correct the
situation," President Shevardnadze said.
Talks due to be held in Tbilisi over the future of the breakaway
region are now in jeopardy. Abkhaz foreign minister Sergei Shmba said
that a large question mark was hanging over the negotiations, due to
be held in Tbilisi on October 9.
The motives of the fighters on the Abkhaz border remain unclear. Some
say they are Chechen and Georgian insurgents - possibly backed by
elements of the Tbilisi authorities - who are trying to retrieve land
lost in the early Nineties. But the most likely theory is that they
are Chechen rebels en route to Chechnya.
Whatever their identity, Moscow simply sees them as terrorists. It has
already accused Tbilisi of hypocrisy over its attitudes towards
terrorism. Russia says Georgia claims to fully support the US-led war
on terrorism, yet harbours militants active in Chechnya and other
southern Russian republics.
While Tbilisi admits Chechens are active in the Kodori Gorge, Giorgi
Baramidze, the chairman of Georgia's parliamentary committee for
defence and security, said they were "out of the control of official
Tbilisi", a reference to the fact that parts of the gorge fall under
Abkhaz control.
Many analysts believe Chechen rebels - finding it increasingly
difficult to pass through the Pankisi Gorge - are now travelling in a
giant loop through Georgia and the southern Russian republics to
re-enter Chechnya.
The fighters involved in this week's clashes were supposedly
travelling north en route to the border with Karachevo-Cherkessia
which would support this hypothesis.
On September 28, Shevardnadze discussed the situation with Abkhaz
premier Anri Djergenia, assuring him that the group was there "without
the sanction of the Georgian authorities".
But some observers believe Chechen soldiers could not have traversed
the country without the knowledge of the interior and state security
ministries. Baramidze has called for a full investigation into what he
calls "the role played by these ministries".
Then, on Sept 27, opposition deputy Sandro Bregadze implied that
senior government officials were being paid off in return for allowing
the Chechens to cross. Georgia's interior minister Kakha Targamadze
dismissed the allegations as nonesense.
Moscow is stepping up its efforts to get Georgia to crackdown on
Chechens operating in the country. Targamadze, who held talks last
week in Moscow with his counterpart Boris Grislov, said Tbilisi is
interested in closer cooperation with Moscow. "The Georgian interior
ministry is ready to cooperate with Russia in searching and
extraditing individuals wanted by Russia," he said.
But the talks stopped well short of agreeing to any collaborative
anti-terrorism operation. "There was no discussion in Moscow about
possible joint operations, because it could involve Georgia in a
large-scale Caucasus war," said Targamadze.
Mikhail Vignansky is director of the Georgian Prime News Agency.
..............
********** VISIT IWPR ON-LINE: www.iwpr.net
IWPR's Caucasus Reporting Service provides the regional and
international community with unique insiders' perspective on the
Caucasus. Using our network of local journalists, the service
publishes objective news and analysis from across the region on a
weekly basis.
The service forms part of IWPR's Caucasus Project which supports local
media development while encouraging better local and international
understanding of the region.
IWPR's Caucasus Reporting Service is supported by the Regional Media
Fund of the Open Society Institute. The service is currently available
on the Web in English and in Russian. All IWPR's reporting services
including Balkan Crisis Reports, Reporting Central Asia and Tribunal
Update are available free of charge via e-mail subscription or direct
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To subscribe or unsubscribe, visit Web page:
http://www.mystery.com/ml/iwpr.html
For further details on this project and other information services and
media programmes, visit IWPR's Website: <www.iwpr.net>
Editor-in-chief: Anthony Borden. Managing Editor: Yigal Chazan;
Assistant Editor: Philip O'Neil; Commissioning Editor: Marina Rennau
in Tbilisi; Associate Editors: Ara Tadevosian in Yerevan, Shahin
Rzayev in Baku and Zarina Kanukova in Nalchik. Editorial assistance:
Mirna Jancic and Heather Milner. To comment on this service, contact
IWPR's Programme Director: Alan Davis [email protected]
The Institute for War & Peace Reporting (IWPR) is a London-based
independent non-profit organisation supporting regional media and
democratic change.
Lancaster House, 33 Islington High Street, London N1 9LH, United
Kingdom. Tel: (44 207) 713 7130; Fax: (44 207) 713 7140. E-mail:
[email protected]; Web: www.iwpr.net
The opinions expressed in IWPR's Caucasus Reporting Service are those
of the authors and do not necessarily represent those of the
publication or of IWPR.
Copyright (c) IWPR 2001
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