27.7.2005 13:10 MSK
Georgia charges Russian GRU with organizing the terrorist acts
GEORGIA, Tbilisi. (Our Correspondent) A terrorist act in the city of Gori on February 1, 2005, was organized by the colleagues of the Main Intelligence Division (GRU) of the Defense Ministry of Russia. This statement was made by the Minister of Internal Affairs of Georgia, Vano Merabishvili, on July 25th, at a special briefing, which took place on the spot of the act of terror.
On February 1, 2005, in front of the Kartli Region Internal Affairs administration building, a car exploded, killing three policemen. "The MVD arrested those suspected. We established that GRU Colonel Anatoly Sysoyev created the sabotage group and prepared it on Russian territory ", stated Merabishvili. According to Merabishvili, this group carried out several acts in the Kartli territory (Gori, Kareli, Khashuri) in the fall of 2004. They exploded high-voltage electric power lines, a section of railroad, and a radio station next to the Baku - Tbilisi -Dzheykhan oil pipeline.
Merabishvili named the participants in the acts of terror in Gori. Georgy Valiyev and Georgy Zasiyev were arrested on July 17th, during a secret special operation in the Tskhinvalsky region and are currently located in the investigation insulator in Tbilisi. The person who purchased the automobile, Joseph Kochiyev, was also arrested. According to the minister, all the saboteurs have been identified: Andrey Zaseyev, Valery Kozayev, Artur Kozayev, Vladimir Pukhayev and Aleksandr Tskhovrebov. Vano Merabishvili declared his appreciation for the counter-espionage arm of the MVD, who, according to the minister did an enormous amount of work in six months to get all the details of the terrorist act. "Today I am proud that we have at least partially expiated our debt to the murdered policemen", he said. He also stated that all the information concerning the act of terror on July 25th was transmitted to the Ambassador of Russia to Georgia, Vladimir Chikvishvili, and he expressed the hope that the Russian side will transmit all suspects to the Georgian side.
The Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee on Defense and Safety, Givi Targamadze, noted with regret that there were concerns about the participation of Russia in preparing the act of terror and its role in the conflict in the Tskhinvalsky region. He expressed hope that Russia would remove its Secret Service agency from the region of conflict and stated that in the future, agents of Russian Special Services will answer to the Georgian people.
The MVD also provided the statements of arrestee Georgy Valiyev, who stated that a Russian named Igor organized the operation. According to Valiyev, Igor packed approximately 70 kilograms of explosives in the car and prepared the detonator. Valiyev stated that Igor frequently rang from Moscow and talked about the realization of the terrorist act. "After the explosion in Gori, Igor was grateful. "He congratulated us and gave us 1000 dollars as a reward ", said Valiyev.
Translated by OM Kenney
PRIMA-News Agency [2005-07-25-George-37]
http://www.prima-news.ru/eng/news/news/2005/7/27/33084.html
