[A-List] UK sub-imperialism: Georgia

["Michael Keaney" <michael.keaney@xxxxxx>]

British anti-terror units to train Georgian army

MoD and secret services help to fight rebels linked to al-Qaida

Nick Paton Walsh in Moscow
Thursday November 21, 2002
The Guardian

British anti-terrorism experts from the secret service and Scotland Yard
will train Georgian elite troops in sophisticated anti-terrorism techniques
under a radical plan to expand the UK's contribution to the war on terror
overseas.

An "exploratory mission" will arrive in Tbilisi, the Georgian capital, next
month to assess the logistics of the British contribution. Georgia has been
struggling to control the Pankisi gorge, a mountainous region on the border
between Chechnya and Russia, where Chechen fighters - thought to be linked
to al-Qaida - have been based.

Georgia has deployed thousands of troops in the gorge in a bid to gain
control, yet its ailing army still seeks international support and training.
The Georgian national security adviser, Tedo Japaridze, travelled to London
in the summer to negotiate terms on the British offer of help.

A senior British diplomat said: "It is not just the Ministry of Defence that
will be involved in this programme. Other security agencies will also play a
role, including the Home Office. There will be a significant anti-terrorist
element to any training we provide."

Georgian officials have welcomed the move and described the British
government as "very helpful". A senior Georgian security official said: "We
have already been receiving advice from Great Britain [for our
anti-terrorist operations]. We are exchanging information regularly."

The Ministry of Defence trains dozens of Georgian troops at Sandhurst
military academy every year, and offers English language training to
officers. The new programme marks a substantial increase in the British
commitment to Georgia, and will involve British instructors from the
military, police and secret services passing on experience gained in British
anti-terrorism operations - particularly those in Northern Ireland - to
their Georgian counterparts.

"This will be a lot more than language training," said the British diplomat,
who described the proposed programme as "a British contribution to the war
on terror".

"We would not be giving troops more kit, but helping the Georgians improve
their capability by sending instructors," he said, adding that Whitehall
wanted to get the scheme in place "while the iron is still hot".

The British plan mimics America's train and equip programme, a two-year $64m
crash-course for the Georgian army designed to improve its chances in
combating the terrorist groups that Georgia, Russia and the United States
agree have been based on Georgian territory. American instructors arrived in
Georgia in April, to the dismay of Moscow which saw the programme as an
unwanted US military presence on its back doorstep. Russian presidential
officials declined to comment on the British training plan.

Britain has considerable interests in Georgia, BP leading a consortium of
companies building a pipeline from Baku in Azerbaijan to Ceyhan in Turkey
that will cross Georgia. Oil pipelines have been identified a potential
targets for terrorists. Many fear that "criminal elements" in the Pankisi
gorge could spread and destabilise Georgia.

Yet Georgian officials insist their lengthy operations in the gorge have
been successful. A senior Georgian security official said: "The gorge is
clean now, and no longer an issue. There are no more than 60 Chechen
fighters within it, whom we are hunting down."

He confirmed that eight men of Arab descent had been captured by Georgian
special forces during their operations, who appeared to be linked to
al-Qaida.