Russia Mounts Pressure on Georgia over Pankisi

Georgian security forces’ checkpoint in Pankisi

Russia again blamed Georgia of harboring Chechen rebels and foreign mercenaries on January 17, stating that a “terrorism threat” is still coming from Georgia and called Tbilisi for closer security and border cooperation, instead of “pinning [their] hopes on international monitoring” of the troubled sections of the Russian-Georgian border.

The statement, issued by the Russian Embassy in Tbilisi, comes after Russia vetoed a prolongation of the OSCE border monitoring mission on the Russo-Georgian border and ahead of Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov’s planned visit to Georgia, scheduled for February. The statement also coincided with an announcement by Russian Defense Minister Sergey Ivanov, who said on January 13 that Russia will pre-emptively hit terrorist bases outside of the Russian territory.

“Recently, Russian officials have made some public statements regarding the presence of Chechen fighters and terrorists in Georgia’s Pankisi gorge in an attempt to attract the attention of the Georgian leadership, relevant agencies and society towards this problem. Moreover, an exact location and approximate number [of militants] was also indicated [in these statements]. But, unfortunately, in response, in spite of undertaking appropriate measures, statements were made [by Georgian officials] that the Pankisi gorge ‘is free of terrorists,'” reads the statement.

The Russian Foreign Ministry issued a report regarding Russia’s relations with Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS) countries on January 13. Specifically, the report states that Georgia “failed to alleviate Russian concerns regarding the presence of Chechen terrorists in the Pankisi gorge, activities of Maskhadovist [rebel President of Chechnya Aslan Maskhadov] structures [organizations] in Tbilisi and allowed its leadership a possibility to access the local media, as well as transfer weapons to gangs active in Chechnya.”

The Russian Embassy’s statement also refers to reports issued last November by the Russia’s Counter-Terrorism Operations Center in the North Caucasus.

This report indicated that one group of Chechen rebels, consisting of 200 fighters, is based in the villages of Duisi and Khalatsani of Pankisi gorge, which is located in Georgia’s north-eastern mountainous region near the Russian border. While the second group – consisting of up to 50 militants – is based in the northern part of the gorge, in the village of Omalo.

According to Russia’s Counter-Terrorism Operations Center, there is a third, 30-strong group of militants, consisting mainly of foreign mercenaries, “speaking Turkish,” near the village of Birkiani. The report also indicated the names – Abu Atiya and Abu Rabiya – of those persons who are allegedly the commanders of the foreign mercenaries in Pankisi.  No information about Abu Rabiya is available; however, the name of Abu Atiya first emerged in 2003, when U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell cited Abu Atiya as the leader of the Al-Qaida terrorist network’s Pankisi cell while speaking at a UN Security Council session.

The Georgian leadership denied these reports immediately, stating that Pankisi gorge is under the full control of Georgian security forces. Recently, Georgian officials organized several fact finding visits of foreign, including Russian, officials to the gorge in an attempt to prove that the area is “free of terrorists.”

However, according to the Russian Embassy’s statement issued on January 17, “every time, when [the militants] received information about foreign representatives’ planned visits in the gorge, the fighters dispersed. But, after the visits end, the fighters were again deployed.”

The statement reads that a resolution of the terrorism problem is possible only through development of cooperation between special services and border guards “and not through pinning hopes on international monitoring, which demonstrated less effectiveness.”

Here the statement is referring to the OSCE border monitoring operation at the Georgian-Russian border, which has been suspended since December 31, 2004 due to Russia’s veto to prolong the mission’s mandate, which triggered a response from Tbilisi in the form of a strong-worded statement.

Thi statement, issued by the Georgian Foreign Ministry on January 14, described Russia’s veto as “totally ungrounded and unjustified” and called on the international community “to insure the urgent adoption of every possible measure for the replacement of the border monitoring operation.”