GEORGIA: Georgian forces fight rebels in remote gorge near the breakaway region of Abkhazia

Georgian government forces battled on Wednesday (July 26) to crush a rebellion by a militia leader in a strategic gorge, sparking fears the fighting could ignite fresh conflict in the neighbouring breakaway region of Abkhazia. At least two Interior Ministry servicemen had been slightly wounded, said President Mikhail Saakashvili's chief of staff, Georgy Arveladze. "What is going on in Kodori gorge right now is a police operation aimed against a group of criminals that have found a safe-haven there that were hiding out in this part of Georgia. These are not huge numbers of criminals, it is up to seventy, but they are very heavily armed and very dangerous criminals. They are from all over Georgia, it is not a regional or domestic population of criminals," he said. Overnight clashes in Kodori gorge -- a gateway to the Georgian Black Sea province of Abkhazia which has had de facto independence since 1993 -- have alarmed Abkhaz separatists, suspicious of any government military build-up in the area. The presidential chief of staff, Georgy Arveladze, declined to confirm or deny media reports which said between two and 30 people were wounded in fighting and dozens of rebels detained. Part of the gorge is controlled by Abkhaz separatists, while another part has been under government control through local Monadire (Hunter) militia leader Emzar Kvitsiani. But on Sunday, ex-governor Kvitsiani declared he would no longer take orders from Tbilisi. Georgian troops now face up to 70 heavily armed Kvitsiani supporters, Arveladze said. Georgia has ruled out talks with Kvitsiani, whose Monadire fighters played a key role in preventing Abkhaz separatists from taking control parts of the gorge populated by ethnic Georgians. Pro-Western Saakashvili, whose elite troops have been trained by U.S. instructors, dissolved the Monadire in 2005 as part of his drive to get rid of regional militias. But most of have refused to disarm. The gorge was one of the routes Georgian troops took in an unsuccessful attempt to re-establish central control over the rebel region of Abkhazia in 1992-93. Abkhaz separatists, who have enjoyed de facto independence since then, fear Tbilisi could use the operation to concentrate forces in the gorge and then use it as a springboard for a strike to win back control of the province. But Georgian officials say the operation against Kvitsiani and his loyalists will not spill over to territory controlled by Abkhaz separatists, which could spark a wider conflict. Big power Russia regards itself as a regional peacekeeper but is on poor terms with Saakashvili's Georgia because of his pro-Western orientation. Moscow is watching developments warily. The Kodori fighting comes days after Russia and Georgia traded accusations over a second rebel region of South Ossetia, where a number of bombing incidents prompted Moscow to warn Tbilisi against any attempt to regain control. Georgian officials responded by accusing Russia of trying to annex its territory and demanding Russia's peacekeepers leave. Breakaway leaders in Abkhazia appealed to Moscow and the United Nations to condemn Georgia. Russia has urged Georgia to avoid military actions in the sensitive area.

ITN Source | July 28, 2006

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