From: MSN Nicknamepsychoteddybear24 (Original Message) Sent: 7/25/2006 10:03 PM
Georgia moves against local ruler and militia
By C.J. Chivers The New York Times
Published: July 25, 2006
MOSCOW Georgia deployed special forces on Tuesday near a remote gorge beside the breakaway region of Abkhazia to arrest a local ruler who had declared autonomy from federal rule and to disperse a militia under his command, Georgian officials said.
As the troops arrived there were reports in the evening of fighting between the two sides.
The ruler, Emzar Kvitsiani, controls the so-called Hunter paramilitary battalion, a local force occupying the Kodori Gorge, which provides a route into territory under the control of the self-declared republic of Abkhazia.
With tensions with Russia flaring, Georgia insisted it had no plans to enter the Abkhaz zone or engage Abkhaz forces, which the de facto Abkhaz president, Sergei Bagapsh, said had been deployed to monitor the Georgian activity.
But Kvitsiani's defiance and Georgia's deployment of forces into the mountainous region underscored anew the lingering tensions and dangers along the southern slopes of the Caucasus.
Two regions within Georgia's borders - Abkhazia and South Ossetia - remain out of the Georgian government's control and receive open support from Russia, which has granted citizenship to most of the residents in the breakaway zones.
Relations between the Georgian government and the de facto rulers in the zones have been bitter, and President Mikheil Saakashvili of Georgia has vowed to repatriate the regions and return them to federal rule.
Last week, at a time of increased tension between Saakashvili's government and the breakaway regions, Kvitsiani announced that he no longer recognized Georgian rule. Members of his Hunter battalion have since appeared on Russian news programs, some wearing ski masks and brandishing assault rifles.
Georgian officials have suggested that Kvitsiani's actions have been a ploy orchestrated by the Kremlin. Saakashvili, at a briefing, said Kvitsiani would be arrested.
"The only issue I can negotiate with Kvitsiani and his gang, and this will happen only of they surrender arms, is about what kind of cells they will have in prison," he said, according to local reports.
Russian officials began reporting on Georgian troop movements during the day, and the Russian Foreign Ministry issued a statement calling on Georgia not to use force. The de facto Abkhaz government said it was preparing for an influx of refugees from the gorge.
Georgia downplayed the troop movements, saying it had sent special police units, without heavy equipment, to conduct a limited operation.
"It is a routine police operation," Giga Bokeria, a member of Parliament and one of Saakashvili's confidantes, said by telephone. "The only difference is that it is near the conflict zone, and that is why we are making clear that we do not plan an intervention in Abkhazia."
There were conflicting reports of the size of the Hunter battalion and the Georgian force moving against it. Russian news sources said the paramilitary group had 300 to 350 members, and that Georgia had sent at least 60 vehicles with as many as 500 troops toward the gorge.
MOSCOW Georgia deployed special forces on Tuesday near a remote gorge beside the breakaway region of Abkhazia to arrest a local ruler who had declared autonomy from federal rule and to disperse a militia under his command, Georgian officials said.
As the troops arrived there were reports in the evening of fighting between the two sides.
The ruler, Emzar Kvitsiani, controls the so-called Hunter paramilitary battalion, a local force occupying the Kodori Gorge, which provides a route into territory under the control of the self-declared republic of Abkhazia.
With tensions with Russia flaring, Georgia insisted it had no plans to enter the Abkhaz zone or engage Abkhaz forces, which the de facto Abkhaz president, Sergei Bagapsh, said had been deployed to monitor the Georgian activity.
But Kvitsiani's defiance and Georgia's deployment of forces into the mountainous region underscored anew the lingering tensions and dangers along the southern slopes of the Caucasus.
Two regions within Georgia's borders - Abkhazia and South Ossetia - remain out of the Georgian government's control and receive open support from Russia, which has granted citizenship to most of the residents in the breakaway zones.
Relations between the Georgian government and the de facto rulers in the zones have been bitter, and President Mikheil Saakashvili of Georgia has vowed to repatriate the regions and return them to federal rule.
Last week, at a time of increased tension between Saakashvili's government and the breakaway regions, Kvitsiani announced that he no longer recognized Georgian rule. Members of his Hunter battalion have since appeared on Russian news programs, some wearing ski masks and brandishing assault rifles.
Georgian officials have suggested that Kvitsiani's actions have been a ploy orchestrated by the Kremlin. Saakashvili, at a briefing, said Kvitsiani would be arrested.
"The only issue I can negotiate with Kvitsiani and his gang, and this will happen only of they surrender arms, is about what kind of cells they will have in prison," he said, according to local reports.
Russian officials began reporting on Georgian troop movements during the day, and the Russian Foreign Ministry issued a statement calling on Georgia not to use force. The de facto Abkhaz government said it was preparing for an influx of refugees from the gorge.
Georgia downplayed the troop movements, saying it had sent special police units, without heavy equipment, to conduct a limited operation.
"It is a routine police operation," Giga Bokeria, a member of Parliament and one of Saakashvili's confidantes, said by telephone. "The only difference is that it is near the conflict zone, and that is why we are making clear that we do not plan an intervention in Abkhazia."
There were conflicting reports of the size of the Hunter battalion and the Georgian force moving against it. Russian news sources said the paramilitary group had 300 to 350 members, and that Georgia had sent at least 60 vehicles with as many as 500 troops toward the gorge.
