01 June 2004 09:49
Georgia raises tension on rebel region`s border
Georgia stepped up the pressure on the breakaway South Ossetia region on Monday, briefly sending troops to its border in a move that provoked swift complaints from Russian peacekeepers and separatist leaders. "We have begun a serious struggle to restore order in the country and eradicate smuggling," Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili told journalists.
South Ossetia has been effectively independent from Tbilisi since a war in the early 1990s and rejects Saakashvili's attempts to reassert central control – as he did, successfully and peacefully, in the restive province of Adzhara earlier this month.
But Saakashvili, who swept to power this year after leading a bloodless revolution, faces stiffer opposition in South Ossetia, a tiny mountainous region of 70,000 people, and larger Abkhazia, which both broke away in bloody 1990s conflicts.
Many South Ossetians make their living by smuggling goods between Russia and Georgia, which maintains checkpoints on the de facto border to fight the illegal trade.
Georgia said it sent in the extra troops to defend the checkpoints after some Russian members of the regional peacekeeping force – which also includes Georgians and South Ossetians – had threatened to remove them.
"This is an attempt by elements in the Russian peacekeeping force to frustrate our fight against contraband. No one should even think about stopping us establishing order on our territory," Prime Minister Zurab Zhvania told reporters.
South Ossetia swiftly condemned the dispatch of troops to its border, saying Tbilisi wanted to restart the conflict.
"We consider the Georgian actions as a pure provocation aimed at involving Russian peacekeepers in military conflict," Irina Gagloeva, a spokeswoman for the South Ossetian government, told Reuters by telephone from Tskhinvali.
"The Georgian interior minister has made very dangerous statements and we are very scared," she added.
The Russian forces also complained, saying the reinforcement threatened to destabilise the region.
"The arrival of more than 30 troops...is dangerously provocative," Major-General Svyatoslav Nabdzorov told Interfax news agency. "It could bring about unpredictable consequences." Saakashvili said he had pulled out most of the troops after receiving guarantees that the checkpoints would be left alone. "We do not intend any military action," he said.
Russia's Foreign Ministry said in a statement it was concerned by the Georgian deployment, which it said devalued Tbilisi's claim to want a peaceful settlement.
U.S.-educated Saakashvili is backed by Western countries keen to see stability in a region which is becoming a major oil transit route. But a peace plan will not succeed without backing from Moscow, widely seen as the rebel regions' main supporter.
Saakashvili repeated his offer of dialogue on Monday and added a promise of better pensions and free fertiliser for those living in the heavily agricultural rebel region. The railway line into South Ossetia would also reopen after 12 years.
"There is nothing to divide us. I love you all," he said. He also said Georgia would increase its peacekeeping strength in South Ossetia from 100 to 500, in line with the number already deployed by local authorities and by Russia.
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