Team Infidel
Forum Spin Doctor
New York Times
October 6, 2008
Pg. 11
By Ellen Barry
MOSCOW — Russian peacekeeping forces dismantled one checkpoint and were at work removing several others on Sunday, five days before a deadline for Russian troops to withdraw from buffer zones outside the separatist enclaves of South Ossetia and Abkhazia.
The activity came two days after an explosion in Tskhinvali, the South Ossetian capital, killed eight Russian soldiers and three Ossetian civilians, threatening to disrupt the schedule for withdrawal.
Georgian authorities said the moves were signs that Russia would meet the deadline.
“They have probably decided to continue with the withdrawal,” said Shota Utiashvili, a senior official for Georgia’s Interior Ministry. “We expect by the 10th, it will be over.”
A peace deal brokered by President Nicolas Sarkozy of France set Oct. 10, this Friday, as the deadline for Russian troops to yield the buffer zones to Georgia. European Union monitors have been carrying out patrols in the buffer zones since last Wednesday in preparation for the transfer.
The Nabarkhevi checkpoint, which was dismantled Sunday, is located on the southwest corner of the buffer zone that extends about four miles outside the boundary of South Ossetia. Russian troops on Sunday were dismantling two more checkpoints near South Ossetia and positions near Zugdidi, outside Abkhazia, Mr. Utiashvili said.
Ambassador Hansjörg Haber, who is heading the European Union mission in Tbilisi, Georgia, said he was “confident that the Russian side will respect its commitment to withdraw forces” by the deadline.
Officials in South Ossetia said they were still investigating Friday’s explosion in Tskhinvali. Russian authorities said their forces had confiscated two cars in a village in the buffer zone and took the cars to their headquarters, where one car exploded.
After the Russian withdrawal from the buffer zones is complete, South Ossetia will close its border with Georgia, leaving only two checkpoints open, South Ossetia’s president, Eduard Kokoity, told Interfax on Sunday.
Russia has recognized the two enclaves as sovereign nations and said it will help protect their borders.
October 6, 2008
Pg. 11
By Ellen Barry
MOSCOW — Russian peacekeeping forces dismantled one checkpoint and were at work removing several others on Sunday, five days before a deadline for Russian troops to withdraw from buffer zones outside the separatist enclaves of South Ossetia and Abkhazia.
The activity came two days after an explosion in Tskhinvali, the South Ossetian capital, killed eight Russian soldiers and three Ossetian civilians, threatening to disrupt the schedule for withdrawal.
Georgian authorities said the moves were signs that Russia would meet the deadline.
“They have probably decided to continue with the withdrawal,” said Shota Utiashvili, a senior official for Georgia’s Interior Ministry. “We expect by the 10th, it will be over.”
A peace deal brokered by President Nicolas Sarkozy of France set Oct. 10, this Friday, as the deadline for Russian troops to yield the buffer zones to Georgia. European Union monitors have been carrying out patrols in the buffer zones since last Wednesday in preparation for the transfer.
The Nabarkhevi checkpoint, which was dismantled Sunday, is located on the southwest corner of the buffer zone that extends about four miles outside the boundary of South Ossetia. Russian troops on Sunday were dismantling two more checkpoints near South Ossetia and positions near Zugdidi, outside Abkhazia, Mr. Utiashvili said.
Ambassador Hansjörg Haber, who is heading the European Union mission in Tbilisi, Georgia, said he was “confident that the Russian side will respect its commitment to withdraw forces” by the deadline.
Officials in South Ossetia said they were still investigating Friday’s explosion in Tskhinvali. Russian authorities said their forces had confiscated two cars in a village in the buffer zone and took the cars to their headquarters, where one car exploded.
After the Russian withdrawal from the buffer zones is complete, South Ossetia will close its border with Georgia, leaving only two checkpoints open, South Ossetia’s president, Eduard Kokoity, told Interfax on Sunday.
Russia has recognized the two enclaves as sovereign nations and said it will help protect their borders.