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The militarisation of Georgia and its border with the Russian Federation is part of Washington's hidden agenda, which consists in creating a new pole of conflict in the Caucuses and the Caspian sea basin.
1) South Ossetia: 5,500 Georgian Assault Forces Mass On Border
2) President: South Ossetia Will Never Be Re-Absorbed By Georgia, Is Prepared To Withstand Attack
3) Georgian Interior Minister: Georgia Bombed South Ossetian Capital, Lost 16 Troops
4) Russian Deputy Foreign Minister: "Terrorists Remain On Georgian Soil"
5) U.S. State Department Hails Anti-Terrorism Cooperation with Georgia
6) US/British-Trained Georgian 'Anti-Terrorist' Commandos Deloyed To...Afghanistan
Articles compiled and Edited by Rick Rozoff
1) http://en.rian.ru/rian/index.cfm?prd_id=160&msg_id=4865289&startrow=1&date=2004-09-17&do_alert=0
Russian Information Agency (Novosti) September 17, 2004
SOUTH OSSETIAN INTERIOR MINISTRY:
5,500 GEORGIAN SERVICEMEN CONCENTRATED IN THE CONFLICT ZONE
MOSCOW - Georgia concentrated up to 5,500 servicemen in the Georgian-Ossetian conflict zone, including up to 2,000 directly on the South Ossetian territory. RIA Novosti received this information in the interior ministry of the non-recognized republic of South Ossetia.
"According to our data, six Grad installations were deployed approximately 15 km away from Tskhinvali," RIA Novosti interlocutor pointed out.
"The law-enforcement structures of South Ossetia have information that in late September the Georgian side is going to resume attacks against the republic," he stressed.
The analytical center of the South Ossetian interior ministry's press service reported that several days ago a meeting was held in the village of Variani with the participation of the interior and defense ministers of Georgia, Irakly Okruashvili and Georgy Baramidze. The report says that participants in the meeting made a decision to subordinate the interior troops to the defense ministry for "raising the efficiency of using combat units in the course of hostilities."
In addition, according to the interior ministry of South Ossetia, the tasks have been set to commanders to study the details of the operation planned against South Ossetia.
2) http://en.rian.ru/rian/index.cfm?prd_id=160&msg_id=4865089&startrow=1&date=2004-09-17&do_alert=0
Russian Information Agency (Novosti) September 17, 2004
SOUTH OSSETIA WILL NEVER REJOIN GEORGIA
MOSCOW - Eduard Kokoity, president of the self-proclaimed republic of South Ossetia, has been in Moscow for a week. In an interview with Nezavisimaya Gazeta he said that his republic would be incorporated in Russia, sooner or later.
According to Mr Kokoity, he is not discussing military co-operation with Russia because the spotlight is on economic problems bearing on the joint use of mineral resources and the republic's industrial potential.
Mr Kokoity pointed out that he is received in Russia as president of the republic South Ossetia, which wants and will eventually officially become part of Russia. "There are laws that do not prevent the integration of our republic into the Russian Federation," he said.
In his words, Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili had offered him, through intermediaries, the post of vice-president in return for changing his policy. "Here is what I will tell you," he said. "Even if Eduard Kokoity becomes president of Georgia, South Ossetia will never rejoin Georgia. The people of South Ossetia will not allow this."
The South Ossetian leader said that if Tbilisi decides to use force to regain control of the breakaway republic, South Ossetia will fight back (it has the requisite capability for this). However, talks would seem a more effective tool, because "we will prove - to Georgia and the international community - that we are right and have a substantiated reason for striving to become part of Russia," said Eduard Kokoity. -
3) http://www.interfax.com/com?item=Geor&pg=0&id=5755912&req=
Interfax September 17, 2004
17 killed during August events in S. Ossetia - Georgian minister
Tbilisi - Sixteen Georgian servicemen and one local resident were killed in the exacerbated situation in the Georgian-Ossetian conflict zone this August, Georgian Interior Minister Irakly Okruashvili said at the Georgian parliament on Thursday.
He also said that Georgian troops "bombed Tskhinvali." "Only after that, the separatists agreed to open a road to Georgian villages via Tskhinvali," he said.
The troops were withdrawn from the conflict zone as soon as that was done, the minister said. ....
4) http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=7857
Civil Georgia September 17, 2004
Russia Says Terrorists are in Pankisi
Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Valeri Loshchinin said on September 17 that �terrorists still remain on Georgian soil.�
�Yes, there are [terrorist] bases and training centers and there are bandits, especially in Pankisi,� Interfax news agency quoted Valeri Loshchinin as saying.
Georgian authorities claim that following an anti-criminal operation that started in 2002 in the Pankisi gorge, which is in the north-eastern part of Georgia, near the Russian border, cleansed that location of Chechen fighters and foreigners suspected of terrorism links.
5) http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=7851
Civil Georgia September 17, 2004
U.S. Hails Anti-Terrorism Cooperation with Georgia
The U.S. Department of State reiterated on September 16 that the Georgian authorities �have shown a lot of success� in dealing with the terrorism threat in Georgia�s north-eastern Pankisi gorge.
�We have been concerned about the situation there, and that is the reason why we undertook a process to train and equip Georgian forces to deal with the problem of terrorists who might take refuge on their soil. And, in fact, in the Pankisi Gorge, they have shown a lot of success in that region,� Richard Boucher, the spokesman of the U.S. Department of State, said at a news briefing on September 16.
He also said that cooperation between the United States and Georgia �has benefited all the countries in the region, including, and especially, Russia.�
The U.S. Department of State issued a statement on September 13 reaffirming its commitment �to working with the governments of Georgia and Russia to combat terrorism in the region.�
6) http://www.interfax.com/com?item=Geor&pg=0&id=5755913&req=
Interfax September 17, 2004
Georgian parliament OKs sending peacekeepers to Afghanistan
Tbilisi - The Georgian parliament on Thursday supported President Mikheil Saakashvili's initiative on sending a platoon from the Georgian mountain rifle battalion to Afghanistan for a peacekeeping mission.
Georgian peacekeepers will depart for Afghanistan in late September.
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