From: MSN NicknameEagle_wng  (Original Message)    Sent: 5/11/2005 3:41 AM
10.05.2005
Chechnya in Georgia: Kabardinian General Brings Confederates

Baghapsh’s War Criminal-Minister Causes Discontent Among Abkhazian Veterans

Russia trusts the Abkhazians less and less. According to the experts, speeches by the veteran fighters’ organization Amtsakhara played a great role in this. Moscow has sensed that the Abkhazian weapons that are aimed in Tbilisi’s direction might one day be turned against them. Frightened by such a trend, Moscow appointed the Kabardinian Sultan Sosnaliyev defense minister in Sokhumi. General Sosnaliyev is planning to staff this department with the North Caucasian Confederates [members of the Confederation of Mountain Peoples].

According to Inter-Press [news agency] information, Sosnaliyev, who was appointed defense minister on the basis of [Abkhazian President Sergey] Baghapsh’s edict 25 February, has already dismissed the ministry’s number ones and is going to appoint the North Caucasian military who actively participated in the combat operations in Abkhazia in 1992-1993. This has caused discontent in Abkhazian military circles.

We would remind you that at the end of the 1980’s, Sultan Sosnaliyev was one of the leaders of the Confederation of Mountain Peoples created on the initiative of the Russian special services. In 1992-1993, in the position of separatist Abkhazia’s deputy defense minister, he actively participated in the combat operations in Abkhazia.

According to the assessments of local observers, the fact that Russian General Gennadiy Zaytsev — who was an advisor to Syrian President Hafiz al-Asad in the Soviet period — is working as deputy defense minister, Sosnaliyev’s appointment as defense minister, and the staffing of the Abkhazian defense department with the North Caucasians, imply that the Russians either do not completely trust the Abkhazian military or want to seriously prepare Abkhazia for another military confrontation with Georgia.

Rezonansi would remind you that during the war, Sultan Sosnaliyev, an ethnic Kabardinian and lieutenant general in the Abkhazian Army, was first the chief of the General Staff (1992-1993) and then deputy defense minister (1993-1994). He led the decisive storming of Sokhumi and received the title of «Abkhazia’s hero» for this. According to unverified information, it was Sosnaliyev who was one of the initiators of Zhiuli Shartava’s [former head of the Abkhazian Government] execution.

It is well known that at the time, Sosnaliyev’s relations with Baghapsh were not very good. At the same time, the Kabardinian general used to be considered a person close to Shamil Basayev. Sokhumi resident Anton Surikov was his assistant during the war. He was responsible for organizing subversive actions in the Georgian Army’s rear and overseeing the Chechen battalion that was fighting on the Abkhazian side.

According to the Georgian side’s assessment, the appointment of Sosnaliyev as defense minister and his staffing of the department with the North Caucasians practically means that the preparation for war has begun. Unlike other members of [Prime Minister Aleksandr] Ankvab’s cabinet, Sosnaliyev is notable for radically anti-Georgian sentiments. During the war, he was known for his cruel treatment of the Georgians and personal participation in killing the Georgians. Today, Sosnaliyev has once again reached a «high point» in Sokhumi and is gathering around himself the same confederates that were the striking force of the Abkhazian Army at the time.

It is noteworthy that Sosnaliyev, aside from being the defense minister, has also received the post of the separatist government’s deputy prime minister. It is also interesting to ponder what trend is being hinted at by Sosnaliyev’s appointing the North Caucasian Confederates rather than the local Abkhazian military to the high positions in defense. According to the Georgian experts’ forecast, this kind of personnel policy will make the situation in Sokhumi tenser than it is now.

According to the experts’ assessment, Moscow no longer trusts the Abkhazians and is trying to once again confront the Georgian side with the North Caucasian «striking force» that «proved itself» in 1992-1993. However, according to the experts, this kind of policy on Moscow’s part might anger the Abkhazians and the Georgian side has to take as much advantage of this aspect as possible.

According to the forecast made by Paata Davitaia, former justice minister [of the Abkhazian Government in exile], the return of Sultan Sosnaliyev as the head of Sokhumi’s defense department means that the already tense situation in Abkhazia will become even tenser. He said that Confederation member Sosnaliyev is the one who personally led the «taking of Sokhumi."

«Sosnaliyev personally gave the order to execute Zhiuli Shartava. At the same time, we also should not forget that he was Shamil Basayev’s deputy and this appointment will make Sokhumi’s policy toward the rest of Georgia become even more aggressive. I do not rule out subversive actions this side of the Enguri [river separating Abkhazia from the rest of Georgia]," Davitaia said.

The fact that Sultan Sosnaliyev is staffing Sokhumi’s defense department with the North Caucasians was not unexpected for Paata Davitaia. In his words, «if only because during the conflict in 1992-1993, he was the main backing force that was attacking the Georgian side.

«Apparently, Moscow decided that if the situation in the conflict zone becomes tense, it will use the same force against Georgia. The North Caucasian Confederates, the Chechens, will be represented here; it is even possible that there will be an attempt to shift the Chechnya issue to Georgia," Davitaia said.

In turn, former Georgian Parliament Vice Speaker Vakhtang Qolbaia believes that Sultan Sosnaliyev’s appointment is a «short-term negative political step» by Sergey Baghapsh. Qolbaia pointed to the complicated current situation between [Vice President Raul] Khajimba’s and Baghapsh’s groups and said that, due to this, Baghapsh needed to appoint Sosnaliyev in order to receive «political dividends at a certain stage." He said that Baghapsh wants to defuse the tense situation and such steps are obligatory for him.

«When we draw Russia’s attention to this issue, they say that these are people who were demobilized from the Russian Army and now serve in Abkhazia on a contract basis. However, we should not disregard this crude interference even for a second and it is the government that should first and foremost express the harshest position in this regard," Qolbaia said.

According to Paata Zakareishvili, expert in conflict issues, Sultan Sosnaliyev’s appointment in Sokhumi hints at the fact that Russia wants total control over the situation in Abkhazia. He said that «apparently, the well-known speeches by veteran fighters’ organization Amtsakhara caused concern in Russia because these people are clearly no longer under Russia’s control." According to Zakareishvili, Moscow wants to regain influence in Sokhumi and control weapons there «in order to prevent these weapons from being used against [Russia] itself.

«So far, these weapons have always been aimed at Tbilisi and, suddenly, it turns out that the same weapons can easily be turned against Russia. Sultan Sosnaliyev is a compromise in this regard because, on the one hand, he is clearly Russia’s man and, on the other, the local veterans will not be able to openly confront him because of his ’past services.’ This way, Moscow wants to regain complete control over Abkhazia’s Armed Forces," Zakareishvili said.

However, at the same time, the information has already been disseminated that the local Abkhazian military openly expressed discontent with Sosnaliyev’s personnel policy. The experts explained this by the fact that during the 1992-1993 conflict, Sosnaliyev kept the Abkhazians in clearly humiliating conditions. In addition, as the number of the North Caucasian Confederates in Sokhumi grows, the local military are left without anything to do.

Paata Davitaia said the same thing: «If the North Caucasians receive high-ranking positions in the defense department, the Abkhazian military will not be able to do anything again. This means that many new troubles will start in Abkhazia. Drug trafficking will be resumed, and so on. The main goal of the Confederates is money and power and there is nothing they would not do on this path."

Vakhtang Qolbaia emphasized that, as a result of Sosnaliyev’s personnel policy, the local fighters remain unemployed and this is sure to cause an opposing reaction among them: «Discontent among the local military is a natural event in this regard because the people who spilled their blood are left with absolutely nothing to do. It is well known that the North Caucasians do not come to Sokhumi without money, and why should the Abkhazians pay them and not anyone else," Qolbaia said.

Paata Zakareishvili did not rule out that this kind of personnel policy will anger the Abkhazians and will not have a result desirable to the Russians in the end.

«Sosnaliyev’s appointment revealed that Russia does not trust the Abkhazians. It is a different issue that Russia is damaging itself by stirring up anti-Russian sentiments in Sokhumi by unreasonable steps. We should definitely take advantage of such sentiments in Abkhazia," Zakareishvili said.
Gera Mamulashvili / Rezonansi
http://www.chechentimes.org/en/press/?id=28777