[A-List] Caucasus War : Georgia On High Alert, Threatens Adjarian Leader, Russian Troops

[Rick Rozoff <r_rozoff@xxxxxxxxx>]

1) Georgian Military Placed On High Alert, Saakashvili
Returns To Adjarian Border With Armed Escort,
Threatens That Russian Moves Will Result In
'Bloodshed'
2) Saakashvili Threatens To Shoot Down Adjarian
Leader's Plane, Enforce Blockade
3) Russian MPs, Journalists To Accompany Adjarian
Leader's Flight Home After Georgian Threat
4) Georgia Acknowledges Closing Adjarian Airport
5) New Georgian Cabinet Holds War Council
6) Adjarian Leader Calls On People To Take To The
Streets To Avoid Bloodbath, Coup
7) Adjarian Leader Appeals To Russia To Help Avert
Bloodshed
8) Russian Warns Georgia Against Invading Adjaria





1)
http://www.spacewar.com/2004/040314152301.6swsordq.html

Agence France-Presse
March 14, 2004


Georgia tense as conflict escalates with renegade
region


-Saakashvili tried to cross into Adjara near the town
of Choloki, but was met by tanks and armed men loyal
to Abashidze. He turned back after automatic weapons
were fired into the air in warning....In Moscow,
Abashidze later reported speaking to Saakashvili, but
accused the Georgian leader of threatening him in the
phone call to "shoot down my plane" should he try to
return to Adjara.
-Moscow had earlier warned Tbilisi it would be held
responsible if the situation turned violent, while
inside Adjara there were reports that local
authorities had mobilised tanks and were arming local
people in anticipation of an attack by Georgian
government forces.
According to the latest reports from the scene,
Saakashvili had returned to the checkpoint on the
border with Adjara with an armed escort and addressed
the 1,000-strong crowd assembled there.
-Vano Merabishvili, head of Georgia's Security
Council, said in televised comments that Abashidze's
administration had mobilised tanks on the streets of
the regional capital, Batumi, and was handing out
weapons to local people.
Georgia's government responded Sunday by placing its
military on high alert, and by closing Adjara's
airspace to any non-military flights.
-The situation was made all the more explosive because
Russia has a military base in Adjara, a hangover from
Soviet rule, and there were fears these troops could
be mobilised on the side of the Adjaran authorities.
Speaking earlier Sunday, Saakashvili warned in
televised comments that "not a single tank can leave
the territory of the base. Any movement of Russia's
military equipment could provoke bloodshed."





TBILISI (AFP) - Armed forces in the former Soviet
republic of Georgia were put on high alert Sunday as a
confrontation between the government and the renegade
Adjara semi-autonomous region on the country's Black
Sea coast escalated dramatically.
The standoff took on an international dimension as
neighbouring Russia sided with Adjara's leader Aslan
Abashidze, after Georgia's President Mikhail
Saakashvili was barred from entering the coastal
territory.

Saakashvili tried to cross into Adjara near the town
of Choloki, but was met by tanks and armed men loyal
to Abashidze. He turned back after automatic weapons
were fired into the air in warning, saying he did not
want to provoke bloodshed.

In Moscow, Abashidze later reported speaking to
Saakashvili, but accused the Georgian leader of
threatening him in the phone call to "shoot down my
plane" should he try to return to Adjara.

Tensions between Abashidze and Saakashvili -- the
newly elected leader of the tumultuous Caucasus
republic -- have been simmering for weeks, but it has
now sparked renewed concern in the West.

The Council of Europe's Walter Schwimmer expressed
"alarm over the escalation of tensions between Tbilisi
and Batumi."

Moscow had earlier warned Tbilisi it would be held
responsible if the situation turned violent, while
inside Adjara there were reports that local
authorities had mobilised tanks and were arming local
people in anticipation of an attack by Georgian
government forces.

According to the latest reports from the scene,
Saakashvili had returned to the checkpoint on the
border with Adjara with an armed escort and addressed
the 1,000-strong crowd assembled there.

"The president must have the ability to move about
freely," he said, speaking through a megaphone.

"I guarantee that we will observe all safety measures
when it comes to the civilian population. We will do
everything in our power to solve this problem in a
peaceful manner."

Vano Merabishvili, head of Georgia's Security Council,
said in televised comments that Abashidze's
administration had mobilised tanks on the streets of
the regional capital, Batumi, and was handing out
weapons to local people.

Georgia's government responded Sunday by placing its
military on high alert, and by closing Adjara's
airspace to any non-military flights.

This was seen as an attempt to prevent Abashidze, who
is currently in Moscow garnering support from the
Russian authorities, from returning to Adjara.

"As a result of the situation in Adjara, armed forces
have been put on a heightened state of alert," Givi
Yukuridze, head of Georgia's Joint Chiefs of Staff,
told AFP by telephone.

The situation was made all the more explosive because
Russia has a military base in Adjara, a hangover from
Soviet rule, and there were fears these troops could
be mobilised on the side of the Adjaran authorities.

Speaking earlier Sunday, Saakashvili warned in
televised comments that "not a single tank can leave
the territory of the base. Any movement of Russia's
military equipment could provoke bloodshed."

Russia is a traditional ally of Abashidze, and the
Kremlin issued Saakashvili with a stern warning not to
use force to try to bring the renegade leader into
line.

"There is reliable information that (Georgia's
capital) Tbilisi is planning to use force," Russian
foreign ministry spokesman Alexander Yakovenko was
quoted as saying by Interfax news agency.

"Georgia's authorities must realise that such
provocative actions can lead to the most grave and
unpredictable consequences, most of all for Georgia
itself."

"Should there be a crisis, the full brunt of
responsibility will lie with Georgia's leadership,"
the spokesman added.

Relations between Tbilisi and Adjara have been tense
for years. Abashidze runs the region like a personal
fiefdom, has withheld taxes from the central
government and has set up a powerful local militia
which takes orders only from him.

Since its independence, Georgia has been riven by
separatism. Two regions, Abkhazia and South Ossetia,
refuse to accept Tbilisi's sovereignty over them. But
Saakashvili has vowed that Adjara will not be allowed
to follow the same path.
------------------------------------------------------
2)
http://en.rian.ru/rian/index.cfm?prd_id=160&msg_id=4048936&startrow=21&date=2004\
-03-14&do_alert=0

Russian Information Agency (Novosti)
March 14, 2004


MAVERICK ADZHAR LEADER TO LEAVE MOSCOW, SAAKASHVILI
THREATENS TO SHOOT DOWN PLANE, BLOCKADE REPUBLIC


MOSCOW, MARCH 14, RIA NOVOSTI - Aslan Abashidze,
Adzhar republican president, is to leave Moscow by
air. He promised to specify the flight for President
Mikhail Saakashvili of Georgia, Badri Meladze,
republican First Deputy Prime Minister, said to
Novosti. He heads the Adzhar legation in Russia.

As Mr. Meladze assumes, in today's telephone
conversation with Abashidze, President Saakashvili
threatened to order his plane brought down as the
recalcitrant republican leader would be coming back
from Moscow to Batumi, Adzhar capital.

To that, Aslan Abashidze promised to specify the
flight time and number to ease the task.

It is being settled now whether Abashidze is to fly
back.

In the same eventful phone conversation, President
Saakashvili was also intimidating the Adzhar leader
with prospects to arrange an international blockade of
the republic, and repeated his demand to pass the
Batumi seaport and customs office into Georgian
jurisdiction, alleges Badri Meladze.
------------------------------------------------------
3)
http://en.rian.ru/rian/index.cfm?prd_id=160&msg_id=4049592&startrow=11&date=2004\
-03-14&do_alert=0


Russian Information Agency (Russia)
March 14, 2004



NEWSMEN & RUSSIAN MPs TO ACCOMPANY ADZHAR LEADER ON
WAY HOME


MOSCOW, MARCH 14, (RIA NOVOSTI) - Aslan Abashidze,
president of Georgia's Adzhar autonomy, is leaving
Moscow by air quite soon. More than fifty will be
accompanying him - among them members of the State
Duma, Russia's lower parliamentary house, Russian
journalists, and their foreign colleagues accredited
in Moscow, Badri Meladze, republican First Deputy
Prime Minister, said to Novosti. He heads the Adzhar
legation in Russia.

"As far as Mr. Abashidze knows, the Georgian top is
plotting to make his plane land elsewhere, but we
shall land in Batumi [Adzhar capital] - we are flying
home," said Meladze, quoting his boss.

As Mr. Meladze assumed, earlier on the day, in today's
telephone conversation with Abashidze, President
Mikhail Saakashvili of Georgia threatened to order his
plane brought down as the recalcitrant republican
leader would be coming back from Moscow.

To that, Aslan Abashidze promised to specify the
flight time and number to ease the task.

In the same eventful phone conversation, President
Saakashvili was also intimidating the Adzhar leader
with prospects to arrange an international blockade of
the republic, and repeated his demand to pass the
Batumi seaport and customs office into Georgian
jurisdiction, alleges Badri Meladze.
------------------------------------------------------
4)
http://en.rian.ru/rian/index.cfm?prd_id=160&msg_id=4049436&startrow=11&date=2004\
-03-14&do_alert=0

Russian Information Agency (Novosti)
March 14, 2004


GEORGIA'S DEPARTMENT OF AVIATION: ONLY AIRPORT IN
BATUMI IS CLOSED FOR INCOMING PLANES


TBILISI - Novosti correspondent - Georgia's airspace
was not closed on Sunday. Only the airport in Batumi
was closed for incoming planes, a spokesperson for
Georgia's Department of Civil Aviation told
journalists. At present, all flights are following the
schedule, and the international airport in Tbilisi is
operating as usual, the spokesperson pointed out.

According to him, the decision to close the Batumi
airport was taken after "receiving reports about
presence of armed people, lorries and several armoured
vehicles on the airport's runway early Sunday
morning".
------------------------------------------------------
5)
http://en.rian.ru/rian/index.cfm?prd_id=160&msg_id=4049237&startrow=11&date=2004\
-03-14&do_alert=0


Russian Information Agency (Novost)
March 14, 2004


GEORGIA: CABINET FOR EMERGENCY SESSION ON ADZHAR
CRISIS


- [Georgian Interior Minister Georgi Baramidze]
confirmed rumours of the Georgian aerial domain locked
today: "[Adzhar president] Aslan Abashidze is doggedly
trying to get back to Batumi [republican capital] from
Moscow. Georgia's president is making it no secret
that Georgian air has been officially closed. We shall
respond in kind later, too."



POTI, MARCH 14, RIA NOVOSTI - Georgia's Cabinet is
gathering for an emergency session in Poti, Georgia's
west, 11 a.m. tomorrow, Georgi Baramidze, Interior
Minister, said to the media.

The conferees will take stock of problem-laden Adzhar
developments after Georgia's President Mikhail
Saakashvili and persons accompanying him were not
admitted to the recalcitrant autonomy. The
presidential motorcade was stopped on Adzharia's
administrative border on the Choloki river, the
Novosti/Georgia news agency reports with reference to
Mr. Baramidze.

"A parliamentary election, essential for this country,
is approaching. No one has the right to ban the public
to speak up, let alone forbid the President to enter
any part of Georgia on a pre-election campaign,"
stressed the minister.

He confirmed rumours of the Georgian aerial domain
locked today: "[Adzhar president] Aslan Abashidze is
doggedly trying to get back to Batumi [republican
capital] from Moscow. Georgia's president is making it
no secret that Georgian air has been officially
closed. We shall respond in kind later, too.

"I want to make the following statement: the Georgian
top is not going to idly watch the developments.
National leaders will do all they can to get under
proper control whatever is entitled to such central
control." "No one has the right to prevent any
Georgian citizen, let alone President, to come to
whatever part of the country and meet the local
public-the electorate-to explain national leaders'
stances. President Saakashvili brought that point home
to Aslan Abashidze as they had a phone talk this
afternoon," added the Interior Minister.
------------------------------------------------------
6)
http://en.rian.ru/rian/index.cfm?prd_id=160&msg_id=4048597&startrow=31&date=2004\
-03-14&do_alert=0


Russian Information Agency (Novosti)
March 14, 2004


ABASHIDZE CALLS ON ADZHARIAN PEOPLE TO GO OUT ON
STREET DEMONSTRATIONS


MOSCOW, 14 March, 2004. /RIA Novosti correspondent/.
-Adzharian leader Aslan Abashidze has called on
Adzharia's population to go out on street
demonstrations to prevent a possible bloodshed that
may occur in the wake of the current crisis in the
autonomy's relationship with Tbilisi.

"This is the only way to resolve the crisis
peacefully, given the limited choice of options at out
disposal," Abashidze said in response to a question
asked by RIA Novosti at a press conference in Moscow.

According to the information at the Adzharian
leadership's disposal, the Georgian authorities have
brought together about 100,000 people from different
regions of Georgia and instructed them to go to Batumi
and stage riots there similar to the ones organized in
Tbilisi immediately before Shevardnadze's resignation.


"We decided that the population must go out on street
demonstrations to sober up these irresponsible forces.
They will sober up when they face common people, the
people just like themselves," the Adzharian leader
said.
------------------------------------------------------
7)
http://en.rian.ru/rian/index.cfm?prd_id=160&msg_id=4048359&startrow=31&date=2004\
-03-14&do_alert=0


Russian Information Agency (Novosti)
March 14, 2004


ADZHARIAN LEADER ABASHIDZE APPEALS FOR MOSCOW'S
INTERFERENCE IN TBILISI-BATUMI CONFLICT TO PREVENT
BLOODSHED


-"I appeal to President, the State Duma and the Senate
(lower and upper houses of the Russian parliament) to
do everything in their power to stop the forces whose
intrusion (into Adzharia) will cause bloodshed and
large-scale riots," Aslan Abashidze said at a press
conference in Moscow.



MOSCOW/TBILISI - RIA Novosti correspondent -Adzharian
leader Aslan Abashidze (Adzharia is an autonomous
republic within Georgia) has appealed for Moscow's
interference in the current conflict between Tbilisi
and Batumi to prevent possible bloodshed.

"I appeal to President, the State Duma and the Senate
(lower and upper houses of the Russian parliament) to
do everything in their power to stop the forces whose
intrusion (into Adzharia) will cause bloodshed and
large-scale riots," Aslan Abashidze said at a press
conference in Moscow.

"To prevent emergence of a new "hot spot" on Georgian
soil, we ask the peacekeepers stationed in Georgia to
stand between the peaceful population and the armed
people to prevent bloodshed," the Adzharian leader
said.

"We know that the peacekeepers have done and are doing
everything in their power in performance of their
mission. They succeeded in halting bloodshed in
Abkhazia and South Ossetia (two self-proclaimed
republics on the territory of Georgia) in the past",
he emphasized.

Abashidze expressed hope that his appeal would be
heard. "There is no other way out of the current
crisis," he said.

On his part, Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili
has called on all foreign countries, including Russia,
to maintain neutrality in the ongoing conflict between
Tbilisi and Batumi.

Saakashvili said he hoped that not a single Russian
serviceman or tank would leave the territory of
Russia's 12th military base stationed in Adzharia.
------------------------------------------------------
8)
http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=story_15-3-2004_pg4_4

Reuters
March 14, 2004


Russia warns Georgia from invading Adzhara


-?There are grounds to think that Tbilisi is planning
to use force. If there is a crisis, all responsibility
will lie with the Georgian leadership,? a [Russian
Foreign] Ministry official told Interfax.


MOSCOW: Russia?s Foreign Ministry on Sunday warned
Georgia against sending forces into its restive
Adzhara region, Interfax news agency reported, as
tension escalated in the Caucasus state.

?There are grounds to think that Tbilisi is planning
to use force. If there is a crisis, all responsibility
will lie with the Georgian leadership,? a Ministry
official told Interfax.

Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili had earlier put
his country?s armed forces on alert after he was
denied entry to the Black Sea coastal region by forces
loyal to the Adzhara leadership.

The mounting tension, accompanied by a reported
closure of the country?s airspace, follows
Saakashvili?s stark warning to the region?s leader to
abide by national law or face action.

The Imedi radio station said that in the
Adzhara-controlled town of Batumi ? Georgiaa?s main
Black Sea port ? local authorities had blocked the
airport runway with trucks.

Georgia?s Rustavi-2 television showed footage of
soldiers blocking Saakashvili?s convoy at a checkpoint
on the road into the Adzhara autonomous republic. A
warning shot could be heard.

?No way. We will not allow you to enter,? one soldier
told Georgia?s Prosecutor General Irakly Okruashivili
and Interior Minister Georgy Baramidze when they
approached his post on foot.

In a telephone address on Adzhara radio, the region?s
leader Aslan Abashidze, who is in Moscow, told his
supporters: ?Be vigilant, stay firm, I?ll be with you
very soon.?

But it was not clear if he would be able to fly back
or if Georgia?s airspace was closed.

On Saturday Saakashvili had accused the region?s
leader, Aslan Abashidze, of acting ?like a feudal lord
from the Middle Ages? by briefly detaining Georgia?s
finance minister.

Abashidze, at odds with Saakashvili since the Georgian
leader was confirmed as president in January?s
election, said in Moscow on Saturday he had
information that a force of up to 100,000 was planning
to push into Adzhara.

Saakashvili told reporters in the Georgian port of
Poti on Sunday that he did not want to use force.

?We are making the maximum effort to resolve the
situation peacefully, but we do not intend to back
down,? he said. Adzhara has long had autonomy, but
never pushed for secession like two other Georgian
regions ? Abkhazia and South Ossetia ? which have been
beyond the control of Tbilisi authorities since Soviet
times. .

Russia says it backs restored Georgian sovereignty
over its entire territory but has covertly encouraged
all three regions to have separate links with Moscow.

George Abashidze, son of Adzhara?s leader and mayor of
Batumi, said the situation was very tense. ?We did not
know that the president wanted to arrive,? he said.
?We knew that he was in Poti with armed troops. We
have very bad examples in South Ossetia and Abkhazia
and do not want to repeat these examples in Adzhara.?
Zurab Chankotadze, head of the civil aviation
administration, said the Interior Ministry had taken
over his headquarters and he had been denied entry.

?I do not know definitely if Georgian airspace is
closed,? he told Reuters.



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