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Courtesy of Mutter's ezboard:

RUSSKIES ON THE MOVE

Saakashvili: Certain Forces in Russia Prepare Aggression against Georgia

/ 2004-07-11 14:01:21

Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili said on July 11 that “certain forces in Russia prepare aggression against Georgia” and called on Russian President Putin “to restrain these forces.”

The Georgian President warned Russia that in case the large-scale armed conflict erupts in breakaway South Ossetia, “it will not be an internal [Georgian] conflict; it will be a serious problem between the two countries – Georgia and Russia.”

“Crisis in South Ossetia is not the Georgian-Ossetian problem. This is the problem between Georgia and Russia,” President Saakashvili said on July 11, while meeting with the group of ethnic Ossetians, who were gathered at the President’s Administration office in Tbilisi to express support towards the peaceful resolution of the crisis.

President Saakashvili denounced once again the statement adopted by the Russian State Duma, which is the lower house of the parliament, in which it condemned the activities of the Georgian authorities and accused Tbilisi of “destabilization of the situation in South Ossetia.”

“This is a provocative statement. Unfortunately this statement was proposed by the Russian parliamentarians, who have close links with Kremlin,” the Georgian President said.

President Saakashvili also said that last night was "relatively stabile" in the conflict zone.

“However, several Russian aircrafts violated Georgia’s airspace today [July 11,]” Saakashvili added.

Reports say that shots fired near the Georgian village of Tamarasheni were heard overnight on July 11; however no casualties were reported last night.

A total of seven Georgian servicemen have been wounded as a result of sporadic shootouts in the conflict zone since July 8.

www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=7393

Re: Georgian President:Prepare For Major Foreign Invasion

Russian ambassador at large to arrive in Tskhinvali

11.07.2004, 02.26

MOSCOW, July 11 (Itar-Tass)

Ambassador at large of the Russian Foreign Ministry Lev Mironov will arrive in Tskhinvali on Sunday. He intends “to deal with the crisis situation and discuss all problems.”

Mironov arrived in Tbilisi on Saturday and stated that “measures should be outlined that will allow to find a way out of this difficult situation that has emerged recently in the conflict zone.”

In Mironov’s view, “all questions of mutual interest will be discussed.” “It is necessary to look for ways to avoid an armed conflict and large-scale clashes in South Ossetia,” the Russian diplomat emphasised.

President of the self-proclaimed republic of South Ossetia Eduard Kokoity held an emergency new conference in Tskhinvali on Saturday evening. “Georgian military hardware are being dispatched” to the South Ossetian village of Tkviavi. Tanks, armoured people’s carriers and helicopters are being brought there, he emphasised.

The South Ossetian troops have suppressed a fire unit near the village of Tamarasheni, Kokoity pointed out.

Georgian State Minister for Conflict Settlement Georgy Khaindrava will also arrive in Tskhinvali on Sunday.

In an interview with Itar-Tass he voiced the hope that “involvement of experienced diplomat Lev Mironov in the settlement process of the situation in South Ossetia may yield some positive results.”

On Saturday Russia called for holding an emergency meeting of the Mixed Controlling Committee on the high level in Moscow. The meeting should help to “avoid turning the situation in the Georgian-South Ossetian conflict zone in an armed standoff.”

The Russian Foreign Ministry noted that, “according to reliable information up to 3,000 armed people who arrived from Georgia and are not involved in the peacekeeping operation are staying in the conflict zone.”

“The presence of such great number of armed people in the highly explosive district seriously destabilises the situation,” a source in the ministry warned. “Subsequently, sporadic shootouts and firings have already started, people were wounded on both sides,” he remarked.

The Mixed Controlling Committee is to agree to immediately put an end to armed clashes that is obligatory for the parties to the conflict.

“We believe that in the current situation the Mixed Controlling Committee should begin functioning permanently in Tskhinvali,” the Foreign Ministry source indicated.

“The spinning spiral of tension that threatens to turn into large-scale armed clashes should be put an end to,” he noted. “First and foremost all units that are not involved in peacekeeping forces should be withdrawn from the conflict zone to this effect,” the source said.

The US side initiated a telephone conversation between Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov and US Secretary of State Colin Powell on Saturday. The discussion on the settlement process in the Georgian-South Ossetian conflict zone was continued during the conversation.

The foreign ministers noted that “the parties to the conflict should show restraint and work out a constructive approach to the resolution of the problem in order to avoid the use of force.”

Georgian Security Council Secretary Gela Bezhuashvili is expected to arrive in Moscow in the beginning of the next week.

Bezhuashvili told journalists that he intends to fly to Moscow on Monday for a meeting with Russian Security Council Secretary Igor Ivanov. “We will look for ways out of a deadlock that has recently emerged in South Ossetia,” he emphasised.

www.itar-tass.com/eng/lev...&PageNum=0