Interior Minister Speaks of Series of Sabotage Acts against Georgia

Georgian Interior Minister Vano Merabishvili said that the explosion of a high-voltage power line and the blasts that hit two gas pipelines in Russia?s North Ossetian republic on January 22 was ?a well-planned series of sabotage acts against Georgia.?

Two simultaneous blasts hit the main and reserve gas pipelines in the Russian Federation?s republic of North Ossetia early on Sunday, cutting off the gas supply to Georgia and Armenia. Merabishvili said that in the Russia?s Republic of Karachaevo-Cherkessia, between the villages of Karachaevsk and Uchketin, a high-voltage power line delivering electricity from Russia into Georgia was also blown up.

?It is a fact that this is one of the unique cases when one country carries out sabotage against another in such a covert way. You know that last year was marked by several terrorist acts in Georgia; but all of them have been investigated and it seems that [certain forces] will not dare to mastermind terrorist acts on the Georgian territory anymore,? Merabishvili said at a news conference on January 22.

He also said that these acts of sabotage were directed against ?Georgia?s efforts to become an independent, strong and democratic state, which, we think, is not in our neighbor?s interests.?

?But we are becoming stronger and everyone will see that we will overcome this challenge much better than in previous years. You know that this is not the first case of this kind [of sabotage],? Merabishvili said.

A similar double blast hit the same gas pipelines in January, 2003 resulting in the gas supply to Georgia being cut-off.

Earlier on Sunday, President Saakashvili blamed Russia for these blasts and described Moscow as ?an unprincipled blackmailer.?

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