Shevardnadze Calls Russia to “Take Care of Chechnya rather than Pankisi”

(Tbilisi February 10, 2003. Civil Georgia) – Georgian President Shevardnadze said in the radiobroadcast today that Georgia is able to deal with Pankisi gorge and advised the Russian authorities “to take care of Chechnya,” while commenting on Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov’s statement that Pankisi still shelters terrorist.

“My kind advice to the Russian Defense Minister and other Russian officials would be to take care of Chechnya, while Georgia can deal with the Pankisi problem independently,” Eduard Shevardnadze said.

He said that Georgia will reinforce the Chechen section of the Russo-Georgian border. “I hope the Chechen militants will refrain from incursion into Georgia,” he said.