Georgian police detain Russian peace-keepers - June, 2008

Load of Revenge

Russians transport missiles to Abkhazia: Georgian media: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2nF1WMVTk3o

June, 2008

Yesterday Georgia’s police released four Russian peace-keepers who were detained in the buffer zone of the Georgia-Abkhazia conflict when they transported antitank guided missiles. After a nine-hour interrogation the military were set free, but the arsenal they had carried was confiscated. Tbilisi explained the measures it took with the fact that the Russian peace-keepers had no right to appear in the conflict zone with such dangerous load. Georgia is likely to take advantage of the new scandal using it as another reason for changing the format of the peace-keeping mission in Abkhazia. Tbilisi has already handed over a note of protest to the Russian Foreign Office.

Yesterday Georgia’s police reported that the four Russian peace-keepers, who were detained in the Zugdidi district of the republic, were handed over to the representative of the CIS Collective Peace-keeping Forces in the zone of the Georgia-Abkhazia conflict Vladimir Rogozin. The military were detained near a bridge over the Inguri river, which separates Georgia from Abkhazia. The Georgian policemen’s attention was attracted with the ammunition in the peace-keepers’ truck. “We had the information that the Russian might carry some unwarranted weapons. And they might take it to their base that they illegally set up in the Zugdidi district,” a source with the Georgian police told Kommersant.

The news about the detention of the peace-keepers immediately became the main issue that the Georgian mass media covered. The journalists, who were quick to arrive at the scene, were shown 35 boxes with antitank guided missiles and mines found in the truck of the Russian peace-keepers. When detained, the military didn’t put up resistance. However, they were brought down, handcuffed and taken to a police station. The peace-keepers were interrogated till yesterday’s morning, then they were released and given their three Kalashnikov rifles, one sniper rifle and the ammunition. The Georgian authorities didn’t give back the mines and missiles, bringing a criminal case about smuggling weapons and explosives.

When commenting on the actions of the police, Head of the Information and Analytical Department with the Georgian Interior Ministry Shota Utiashvili told Kommersant that the military from the Russian contingent brought a great deal of new weaponry to the Zugdidi district without receiving the agreement of the Georgian party. “The movements of the Russian military in our territories were unauthorized and were not sanctioned by Georgia’s bodies. Naturally, the Interior Ministry cut it short,” Mr Utiashvili stated. Commander of the Georgian peace-keeping contingent in the zones of the Georgia-Abkhazia and Georgia-South Ossetia conflicts Colonel Mamuka Kurashvili sided with Mr Utiashvili, “The peace-keepers were not allowed to transport the missiles that were found in their truck in the zone of the conflict. Moreover, the unauthorized movement means breaking all agreements reached. They had no document reading that they transported that sort of arms. Besides, the load was accompanied by Russian commandos, whose deployment in the conflict zone a few weeks ago was another example of violation of the agreements,” Colonel Kurashvili argued.

The behaviour of the Georgian authorities aroused irritation with the Russian military and the government of Abkhazia. “The peace-keepers were at the gun point of unknown people in civilian clothes. They were disarmed in a criminal manner and taken to a police station,” said irritatingly Commander-in-Chief of the Russian land forces Colonel Igor Konashenkov. “Such illegal actions contradict all statutory acts, because the incident occurred in the buffer zone of the Georgia-Abkhazia conflict.” The colonel emphasized that the Ural truck, which was confiscated, and the ammunition, which was there, must be given back to the Russian peace-keepers.

In his turn, representative of the Abkhaz President in the Gali district, which borders on the Zugdidi district of Georgia, Ruslan Kishmaria called the incident “provocation” as he gave an interview to Kommersant. “The Georgians had better read the agreement of 1994 “On cease-fire.” It’s clear from the document that peace-keepers have the right to move throughout the territory of the buffer zone when carrying out their mission. And there were no missiles there. There was only the anti-tank guided missile system which is part of the infantry fighting vehicle. So, the Russian side didn’t have to get any permit,” Mr Kishmaria stressed.

The agreement that the official refers to really contains a provision reading that peace-keepers and international observers in the zone of the Georgia-Abkhazia conflict are to get warranties of the parties, but only in case they leave the buffer zone. The Russian peace-keepers didn’t do it, thus they didn’t violate the agreement. Nonetheless, according to Shota Utiashvili, now the Georgian government is occupied with another matter: It wants to find out whether the confiscated weapons can reside in the conflict zone.

The Georgian Foreign Office has already blamed the escalation of tensions in Abkhazia on Russia. “International community regards Russia as one of the parties in the conflict and unanimously supports the peace initiatives of the Georgian President,” the Ministry’s press-release reads. This said, you can expect Tbilisi to foster the changing of the format of the peace-keeping mission in the zone of the Georgia-Abkhazia conflict. More to the point, at the end of May the Russian Foreign Office received a note via the CIS executive committee urging it to launch consultations about a withdrawal of the Russian peace-keepers, which are deployed in Abkhazia under the auspices of the Commonwealth.

Source: http://www.kommersant.com/p904106/Ge..._peacekeepers/


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Source: http://en.rian.ru/world/20080620/111457741.html

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Source: http://en.rian.ru/russia/20080620/111481295.html

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Source: http://en.rian.ru/russia/20080528/108726073.html

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Source: http://en.rian.ru/world/20080619/111227173.html