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ANKISI GORGE, Georgia, June 11 — For months, local residents say, the group of 15 Arab and Central Asian fighters lived quietly in a two-story house here, among the hundreds of guerrillas who had turned this wooded vale near the Russian border into a burgeoning center of Islamic militancy. Like many of those who gathered here, the fighters had come over the snowy passes from Chechnya, where they had been helping their fellow Muslims in their struggle to break with the Russian republic. They exercised to stay in shape and went into the woods to practice shooting. Some of the...

Terrorists from al-Qaeda have been making chemical and biological weapons in Georgia’s Pankisi Gorge, French Interior Minister Dominique de Villepin said on Tuesday. Speaking at a world conference on bio-terrorism in Lyons that was organized by Interpol, he said that “several al-Qaeda cells have been trained in Afghanistan where they have learned to use biological agents including anthrax, ricin and botulism toxins. Later, after the fall of the Taliban regime, those groups continued their experiments in the Pankisi Gorge, on the territory of Georgia, bordering Chechnya,” Interfax news agency reported. The minister added that al-Qaeda terrorists “were able to use...

Russian President Vladimir Putin ordered the interior ministry to conduct preventive strikes against terrorists. "[The Interior Ministry's] measures in this area must have a preventive nature," the president said at a meeting Wednesday with high-ranking interior ministry officials in the Kremlin. "We realize how serious the tasks facing security-related agencies in Russia are, especially the law enforcement bodies and interior ministry troops," Putin said. He also said the latest events in the world confirm that terrorism remains a major global threat. "The recent blasts in London; the terrorist acts in Iraq, Turkey, Israel, and Egypt; and the assaults on government...

TBILISI, Georgia -- Russia's federal minister for Chechnya on Tuesday promised housing and compensation to Chechen refugees if they return home from camps in Georgia's Pankisi Gorge. Heading a Russian delegation to the Georgian capital, Tbilisi, Stanislav Ilyasov spoke to Georgian President Eduard Shevardnadze and his government about ways to persuade the 3,500 refugees in the Pankisi Gorge to return to Chechnya. Ilyasov said Moscow would pay for the returning refugees to rent apartments and would pay compensation to those whose homes have been completely destroyed in the war. Refugees who cannot find work immediately would receive additional benefits, he...

It seems to be a very heavy burden for Georgia to get rid of the terrorists hiding in Pankisi Gorge. The Georgian mass media have already reported that the large-scale scouring operation held in the settlement of Khalatsani in the Pankisi Gorge last week failed because of non-coordination between the Georgian military and security structures

Shevardnadze Vows Gorge Crackdown TBILISI, Georgia, Sep 16, 2002 (AP Online via COMTEX) -- Facing threats of Russian military action, Georgian President Eduard Shevardnadze said Monday he had ordered new security sweeps in the lawless Pankisi Gorge and will hand suspected Chechen militants over to Moscow. Shevardnadze said in a weekly radio address he had ordered troops to arrest terrorists and free hostages in and around the gorge. Russia says Chechen rebels and foreign terrorists have turned the area into a base for attacks into the breakaway Russian republic of Chechnya. Shevardnadze said the early phase of Georgia's security...

TBILISI (AFP) - Georgia gave its first military riposte to Russian claims that Georgia was dragging its feet over dealing with Chechen rebels holed up in its Pankisi gorge, by announcing that it had sent 1,000 troops into the lawless abyss. Georgian President Eduard Shevardnadze said the assault demonstrated the country's "strength." "In accordance with my order, the interior ministry troops together with the MGB (ministry on national security, ex-KGB) entered Pankisi today," Shevardnadze announced on national television. "Both (Georgian) Chechens and Georgians themselves asked us to move in the forces," said Shevardandze. "We entered when we were asked...

Statement by the Press Secretary The United States is deeply concerned about credible reports that Russian military aircraft indiscriminately bombed villages in northern Georgia on August 23, resulting in the killing of civilians. The Government of Georgia and border monitors of the Organization of Security and Cooperation in Europe have verified that these aerial bombardments occurred. The United States regrets this loss of life and deplores the violation of Georgia's sovereignty. The United States strongly supports Georgia's independence and territorial integrity, and has welcomed similar statements by the Russian Federation. Yesterday's attacks and their denial by the Russian Government,...

MOSCOW (AP) -- Deputy Defense Minister Alexander Kosovan objected Thursday to the planned U.S. military training in Georgia, saying U.S. influence in the region was growing and was a cause for alarm. "The presence of American divisions in Georgia should worry any Russian soldier," Itar-Tass quoted Kosovan as saying. Kosovan said Georgia had rejected earlier Russian offers of help in clearing out the Pankisi Gorge, Itar-Tass reported. Russia has said Chechen rebels are using the gorge to regroup and rearm. Kosovan said Russia was ready to withdraw from some of its Soviet-era military bases in Georgia ahead of schedule, in...