Georgia Set to Probe into Mysterious ‘Kodori Raid’
State Minister Goga Khaindrava, who is in charge of conflict resolution, appealed the General Prosecutor’s Office to launch investigation into a covert march of Chechen field commander Ruslan Gelaev’s armed group to the Georgian-controlled Kodori gorge in breakaway Abkhazia that took place in September-October, 2001.
“It was [an act of] sabotage against the Georgian state, which largely harmed our country’s reputation,” Khaindrava said on May 20, while speaking in a live broadcast of Rustavi 2 television after arrival from Abkhazian capital Sukhumi, where he held talks with the Abkhaz side.
The reasons of a surprise raid of Gelaev’s group from Pankisi gorge in eastern Georgia, which by then was a hideout for Chechen militants to the Kodori gorge, which is some 500 km away from Pankisi, remain obscured with mystery.
Georgian media alleged that the dispatching of a Chechen fighters group from Pankisi to Kodori was a state-sponsored move carried out by ex-President Shevardnadze’s administration, particularly by the leadership of the Interior Ministry.
Fighting in Kodori started on October 3, 2001. Clashes between Chechen armed groups, which were later joined by the local Georgian guerrilla groups and Abkhaz militia lasted till mid-October.
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