Posted on 08/23/2008 1:18:09 AM PDT by fightinJAG
GORI, Georgia (Reuters) - Georgian troops were back in control of the country's main East-West highway on Saturday after Russian forces pulled back, but Washington slammed the Kremlin for keeping a force in Georgia's heartland.
Russia says it will permanently station what it calls peacekeeping troops deep inside Georgia -- a step it says is to prevent new bloodshed and which the United States has branded a violation of a ceasefire deal.
A Reuters reporter on Saturday saw Russian soldiers manning a checkpoint in the village of Karaleti, six km (four miles) north of the Georgian town of Gori and in territory where Tbilisi says Moscow has no right to station troops.
Georgia's interior ministry said that about 300 km (miles) to the West, Russian forces were still dug in around the Black Sea port of Poti, a presence Tbilisi says could give Russia a stranglehold over the country's trade.
(Excerpt) Read more at washingtonpost.com ...
How can they have just a “checkpoint” without some force to protect it?
The Russian soldiers and tanks left the city (Gori) Friday as part of a cease-fire deal. But many of them didn't go far. Russia claims the right to set up a "security zone" about six miles north of the city where checkpoints are to be manned by hundreds of soldiers.
Not leaving Georgia entirely. Just a partial pullback.
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