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MP Warns U.S. of Georgian Conspiracy
Friday, March 1, 2002
(09:53)
Reuters

"Moscow has well-founded concerns that the direct involvement of the U.S. military in the fight against terrorism in Georgia could further complicate the situation in the region. Washington must take this into account," Ivanov told Powell, according to a Foreign Ministry statement released Thursday.

On Wednesday U.S. President George W. Bush confirmed the U.S.’ plans to send up to 200 special forces troops to Georgia, saying he was sure the Pankisi-based guerrillas are linked to the al-Qaeda network. Several Russian and Abkhaz politicians were quick to suggest that knowingly or not, the Americans have become embroiled in a convoluted Georgian conspiracy.

Dmitry Rogozin, the head of the State Duma’s International Relations Committee said on Thursday that he has information indicating that the Georgian authorities intend “to reach an agreement with the Chechen fighters” ... “There are facts that directly indicate that Georgian President Eduard Shewardnadze is flirting with the Chechen fighters and is attempting to play a different game with them,” Rogozin said.

Rogozin called the alleged Georgian plan “an elegant masterpiece.” He said that the Georgian leadership was attempting to “agree upon a joint military operation involving Chechen fighters and probably American troops, to force foreign mercenaries out of the Pankisi gorge.” ... “I would like to make a warning: this type of scenario is very well known to us and we consider it an utterly hostile move,” the deputy asserted. He said it was the equivalent of “an agreement being reached with Mullah Omar against Bin Laden.”

On Wednesday the vice-president of Georgia’s pro-Russian breakaway region of Abkhazia, Valery Arshba, made a very similar claim: In an interview with the Russian news agency Interfax, Arshba alleged that the Georgian authorities are transferring Chechen rebels from the Pankisi gorge to Abkhazia's Kodori gorge.
(More: Gazeta.RU News Source)
2002 © Reuters, Ltd.

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