Georgia arrests Russian officers
ISN SECURITY WATCH (Thursday, 9 February: 12.40 CET) - Georgian police have detained three Russian military officers who allegedly entered Georgian territory without visas, news agencies reported.
Tensions between Georgian and Russian peacekeepers in the region have been on the rise in recent months.
The Russian officers said they were on Georgian territory investigating an incident that occurred on 1 February in which Georgian police impounded a Russian peacekeeping vehicle. They said the vehicle had been involved in a traffic accident near the Georgian separatist republic of South Ossetia.
A convoy of peacekeepers crashed into a car owned by a Georgian driver and hundreds of Georgian police rushed to the scene and confiscated the Russian vehicle, releasing it only after compensation had been paid to the owner of the car struck at the scene.
On Monday, another incident contributed to rising tensions in the region, when Georgian police arrested two Russian soldiers for allegedly trying to break into a secret state facility, news agencies reported.
Georgian police told reporters they suspected the Russian soldiers of spying on the facility after they attempted to drive a vehicle inside a restricted area housing the Georgian Interior Ministry’s rapid deployment unit, according to local media reports.
Russian troops are deployed in the zone of the conflict between Georgia and South Ossetia, as part of a Joint Collective Peacekeeping Forces effort.
Georgia and South Ossetia were at war from 1990 until 1992, when the Georgian government was forced to accept a ceasefire with the separatists in order to avoid a confrontation with Russia. In a parting shot, Tbilisi also decided to abolish the region’s autonomous status.
In June 2004, after the “Rose Revolution” that ousted veteran leader Eduard Shevardnadze, the newly elected government under Mikhail Saakashvili attempted to force Kokoity’s government out of office, resulting in several clashes that claimed the lives of 17 Georgian servicemen and an unknown number of Ossetian militiamen that same month.
(By ISN Security Watch staff)
Tensions between Georgian and Russian peacekeepers in the region have been on the rise in recent months.
The Russian officers said they were on Georgian territory investigating an incident that occurred on 1 February in which Georgian police impounded a Russian peacekeeping vehicle. They said the vehicle had been involved in a traffic accident near the Georgian separatist republic of South Ossetia.
A convoy of peacekeepers crashed into a car owned by a Georgian driver and hundreds of Georgian police rushed to the scene and confiscated the Russian vehicle, releasing it only after compensation had been paid to the owner of the car struck at the scene.
On Monday, another incident contributed to rising tensions in the region, when Georgian police arrested two Russian soldiers for allegedly trying to break into a secret state facility, news agencies reported.
Georgian police told reporters they suspected the Russian soldiers of spying on the facility after they attempted to drive a vehicle inside a restricted area housing the Georgian Interior Ministry’s rapid deployment unit, according to local media reports.
Russian troops are deployed in the zone of the conflict between Georgia and South Ossetia, as part of a Joint Collective Peacekeeping Forces effort.
Georgia and South Ossetia were at war from 1990 until 1992, when the Georgian government was forced to accept a ceasefire with the separatists in order to avoid a confrontation with Russia. In a parting shot, Tbilisi also decided to abolish the region’s autonomous status.
In June 2004, after the “Rose Revolution” that ousted veteran leader Eduard Shevardnadze, the newly elected government under Mikhail Saakashvili attempted to force Kokoity’s government out of office, resulting in several clashes that claimed the lives of 17 Georgian servicemen and an unknown number of Ossetian militiamen that same month.
(By ISN Security Watch staff)
posted by Marko at 2/09/2006 07:59:00 AM
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