[A-List] Georgian Crisis Creates Regional, World Tensions, Affects Caspian Oil Pipeline

[Rick Rozoff <r_rozoff@xxxxxxxxx>]

1) Reports: Georgia Mobilizes Troops, Armor; Adjaria
Activates Militia
2) Three Georgian Warships Leave Port To Blockade
Adjarian Capital
3) Georgian Vessels Enforce Naval Interdiction On
Adjaria's Black Sea Coast
4) Georgian Naval Forces Impound Seven Ships In
Adjarian Capital's Port
5) 'Georgia Has Sufficient Military Force':
Saakashvili Effects Total Economic Blockade Against
Adjaria
6) Adjarian Official: Georgia, Not Us, To Suffer From
Blockade
7) Georgian Prosecutor Presses Criminal Charges
Against Several Adjarian Officials
8) Tbilisi Suspends All State Banking Operations In
Adjaria
9) Conflict Hurts Georgian, European Economies As
Caspian Oil Shipments Jeopardized
10) South Ossetia Puts Military On High Alert,
Prepares For Worsening Of Georgian-Adjarian Crisis
11) Azerbaijan Worried About Caspian Oil Pipeline
Project As Georgian Situation Deteriorates
12) NATO In Constant Contact With Georgian Delegate
13) Russian Commentary: Georgian-Adjarian Crisis
Creates Tension Across The Globe



1)
http://www.rferl.org/newsline/2-tca.asp

Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty
March 16, 2004

BOTH SIDES IN GEORGIAN STANDOFF ARM IN ANTICIPATION OF
AGGRESSION


Adjar Interior Minister Djemal Gogitidze told Interfax
on 15 March that 3,000 Georgian troops backed by 12
tanks are poised to invade the autonomous republic,
but that Adjar forces are capable of repelling any
such aggression. Georgian Defense Ministry spokeswoman
Nino Sturua told the same agency the same day that
while some army units are on alert, none has been
deployed to the border with Adjaria. Georgian State
Security Minister Zurab Adeishvili claimed in Poti on
15 March that over the past three years Abashidze has
created three special-forces units manned by former
criminals [sic] with an estimated total strength of
more than 1,000 men, Interfax reported. Abashidze
himself said on 15 March that the Adjar authorities
have begun issuing weapons to the population in order
not to leave women and children unprotected, Interfax
reported. Interfax further reported that Adjar militia
forces armed with automatic rifles are grouping close
to the internal border with Georgia. Gogitidze on 16
March estimated the number of Adjar militia deployed
at the border at 400 men, backed by several armored
personnel carriers. Caucasus Press on 16 March
reported that the Adjar volunteer militia opened fire
twice during the night when Georgian Interior Minister
Giorgi Baramidze approached the border at two separate
locations. LF
-------------------------------------------------------
2)
http://www.interfax.com/com?item=Geor&pg=0&id=5704200&req=

Interfax (Russia)
March 16, 2004

3 Georgian warships leave base to block port Batumi -
Ajarian official


Tbilisi/Poti. (Interfax) - Three Georgian Navy
warships have left their base and are heading in the
direction of Batumi. It is believed that they have
been tasked to block port Batumi from the sea, Jemal
Gogitidze, interior minister of the autonomous
republic of Ajaria, told Interfax on Tuesday.

During the night he stayed on the administrative
border of Ajaria to oversee law and order along its
perimeter. He said there were no incidents on the
border at the night.
"The confronting forces remain in their positions," he
said.

"New people were constantly arriving" from the Ajarian
side, Gogitidze said. Due to bad weather and a strong
wind from the sea people burned fires, sang songs and
danced on the border at night, he said.

Meanwhile, reports from Tbilisi say that Georgian
coastal guard boats patrolled port Batumi and the
entire coast of Ajaria at night.

Prime Minister Zurab Zhvaniya, Interior Minister
Giorgy Baramidze and commander of Georgian border
troops Badri Bitsadze went out to sea on a motor boat
at night.

Zhavniya told reporters after the nighttime voyage
that he wished to meet sailors and officers who will
be responsible for the restrictions in the port area.

"All the restrictions imposed by the Georgian
president will be carried out," he said.

Meanwhile, Bitsadze told journalists that all ships
heading for Batumi will be rerouted to Poti.
------------------------------------------------------
3)
http://en.rian.ru/rian/index.cfm?prd_id=160&msg_id=4059995&startrow=21&date=2004-03-16&do_alert=0


Russian Information Agency (Novosti)
March 15, 2004

GEORGIAN LAUNCHES PATROL ADZHARIAN WATERS


TBILISI, March 16, 2004. (RIA Novosti) - In the early
hours of March 16, Georgia's coastal guard launches
began patrolling the Adzharian section of the Georgian
territorial waters in the Black Sea, the
Novosti-Georgia news agency reported on Tuesday with
reference to the press service of the Georgian
interior ministry.

The launch crews have been instructed to follow all
the ships heading for Batumi ports and the Poti port
(Western Georgia).

Early on Tuesday, Head of the Anti-Crisis Centre for
Adzharia and Prime Minister of Georgia Zurab Zhvania,
together with Interior Minister Georgy Baramidze met
the personnel of the coastal guard responsible for the
Adzharian section of Georgia's maritime border and
checked the guard of the Batumi water area.

"Officers and servicemen of the coastal guard are
fulfilling an important mission. They are to oversee
the implementation of the limitations and control
imposed by the Georgian president in regard to the
Adzharian leadership," Zurab Zhvania told newsmen.

"Our servicemen are capable to fulfil this mission,"
Chairman of the Border Guard Department of the
Georgian Interior Ministry Badri Bitsadze told
reporters.

The Georgian president's decision to close the Batumi
port, Batumi airport and customs in Sarpi on the
Georgian-Turkish border was approved by the Georgian
government's emergency session held in Poti on March
15.

Accounts of the Adzharian government members have also
been frozen, and Georgia's banks have annulled
licences of all banks operating in Adzharia.

"Nearly all the financial sources of the autonomy's
leadership have been thwarted. I'm obliged to take
these measures so that all could understand that
Georgia will not put up with limitations of its
sovereignty on behalf of any territorial entity,"
President Mikhail Saakashvili told reporters.

He also remarked that in the past years Georgia's
central budget received no taxes and contributions
from the Batumi port and the Sarpi (border with
Turkey) customs to the sum of $200-300 million
annually.

"Mr. Shevardnadze put up with this situation but I'm
not going to," said Mr. Saakashvili.

On March 14, a group of armed people at the post near
the Choloki river, on the administrative border of the
autonomy, did not let the Georgian president heading
for Batumi into Adzharia. Tbilisi saw this incident as
direct insubordination of the autonomy's authorities
to the country's leadership. Batumi in turn claims
that the president was accompanied by several hundred
people with military hardware. Hence, Adzharia
interpreted this as an attempt to invade the autonomy.

-------------------------------------------------------
4)
http://www.interfax.com/com?item=Geor&pg=0&id=5704269&req=

Interfax (Russia)
March 16, 2004

Seven ships detained at Batumi port


Tbilisi. (Interfax) - Georgian naval units detained
seven ships in Batumi's port on Tuesday, Prime
Minister Zurab Zhvania told journalists on Tuesday.

"We have begun to take real steps to control the
Batumi port. Thus, navy units have taken full control
of Ajaria's waters," said Zhvania, who heads the
center responsible for resolving the ongoing conflict
with Ajaria.

"All seven ships are being escorted by motorboats to
the port of Poti," he said.
-------------------------------------------------------
5)
http://www.rosbaltnews.com/2004/03/16/66023.html

Rosbalt News  (Russia)
March 16, 2004


Mikhail Saakashvili Institutes Economic Blockade of
Adjaria


-'Georgia has sufficient military force to settle the
problem with the autonomous region....'


TBILISI, March 16. Georgian President Mikhail
Saakashvili says he intends to use all measures at his
disposal to resolve the conflict with Adjaria
peacefully. Speaking at a briefing in the state office
building Monday evening, he said that while he was
prepared to enter into a dialogue with Aslan
Abashidze, the Adjarian leader has so far refused to
cooperate. In addition, Saakashvili said that he had
no intention of accommodating himself to the Abashidze
regime. 'Georgia has sufficient military force to
settle the problem with the autonomous region, but we
have not given in to the provocations of our enemies,'
he said.

Saakashvili also said that the deadline he gave
Abashidze to meet his ultimatum expired Monday night,
and that the central authorities have now assumed
control of the port of Batumi, as well as the airport
and customs in Sarpi, on the border with Turkey. Work
at those sites has now been curtailed, and cargo has
been redirected to the port of Poti. In addition,
railway traffic in the autonomous republic has been
halted, a situation described by the Georgian prime
minister, Zurab Zhvania, as alarming given the fact
the railroad transports more than 12 million tons of
oil each year, mostly from Azerbaidjan and Khazakstan.
'We have closed all Adjari accounts in Georgian banks,
and that will continue until such time as Abashidze
reconsiders,' Saakashvili said. He did not elaborate
on what measures might be taken should Abashidze not
'reconsider.'

Saakashvili added that the curtailment of the
operation of communications exchanges was a temporary
measure. 'All of Adjaria's resources will have been
exhausted within two weeks, 'he said. The Georgian
president said that the restrictions on the operation
of the port and customs would not impact the interests
of ordinary people. Only the large-scale transport of
goods would be restricted. 'This is being done in
order to stabilize the situation in the country. An
absolute majority of the population of Adjaria
supports us in this matter,' he said.

Saakashvili also said that a criminal investigation
for murder has been launched by the General
Procurator's Office of Georgia against a vice-minister
for internal affairs of Adjaria. He added that within
the next few days, the procurator's office would
launch investigations of an additional 10 highly
placed Adjari officials, and that international
warrants would be issued for their arrest.
------------------------------------------------------
6)
http://en.rian.ru/rian/index.cfm?prd_id=160&msg_id=4060733&startrow=1&date=2004-03-16&do_alert=0

Russian Information Agency (Novosti)
March 16, 2004

ADZHARIA WILL NOT FACE ECONOMIC BLOCKADE


-Commenting on difficulties that arose in regard to
transportation of Caspian oil via Adzharia, Mr. Yasin
said: "For Georgia it's very bad. Nobody needs this
conflict."



MOSCOW, March 16, 2004. (RIA Novosti) - There will be
no famine in Adzharia in connection with the Georgia's
economic blockade of the autonomous region, the
academic supervisor of the Higher School of Economics,
Yevgeny Yasin, said on Tuesday in response to a
question about how long Adzharia will last
"stand-alone" mode without serious threats to economic
and energy security.

"I believe Adzharia will last long in this mode. It
has a primitive economy, everybody provides for
themselves. Of course, Adzharia will grow weak, but
there will be no famine in the autonomy," he said.

Commenting on difficulties that arose in regard to
transportation of Caspian oil via Adzharia, Mr. Yasin
said: "For Georgia it's very bad. Nobody needs this
conflict."
-------------------------------------------------------
7)
http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=6455

Civil Georgia
March 16, 2004

Wanted Adjarian Officials Named


Georgian General Prosecutor unveiled list of Adjarian
officials wanted by the law enforcers for different
crimes. Adjarian leader Aslan Abashidze is not on the
list.

The General Prosecutor?s Office has brought criminal
charges against several top officials of the Adjarian
authorities. All of them are accused of violation of
Georgia?s territorial integrity, disobedience to the
central authorities and illegal takeover of military
authorities.

Head of Kobuleti district of Adjara Tariel Khalvashi,
Adjarian leader Aslan Abashidze?s bodyguard Davit
Khalvashi, as well as Batumi police official Vazha
Tabakidze, employee of Adjarian prosecutor?s office
Nodar Iakobidze and deputy interior minister of Adjara
Davit Bakuridze are accused for attacks against the
opposition activists and disobedience to the central
authorities.

Adjarian deputy interior minister is also accused of
masterminding murder of Chief of the Emergency
Situations Department of Adjarian Interior Ministry
Temur Inaishvili.

Adjarian security minister Soso Gogitidze, his deputy
Gogi Kupreishvili and deputy interior minister Davit
Bakuridze will face charges for masterminding attack
against the Rustavi 2 television journalist Vakhtang
Komakhidze, who was severely beaten up in Adjara on
March 5.

?Adjarian Interior Minister Jemal Gogitidze is also
linked to the above mentioned crimes [except murder of
interior ministry?s official and attack on
journalist]; however, we cannot charge him, as he is
member of the Georgian Parliament. We will request the
Parliament to lift MP immunity from Gogitidze as soon
as possible,? General Prosecutor Irakli Okruashvili
said at a news briefing on March 16.

Speaking about Adjarian leader, the Prosecutor General
said, ?no criminal charges have been brought against
Aslan Abashidze and his son, Batumi Mayor Giorgi
Abashidze, yet.?

?Adjarian leader still has a chance to avoid criminal
prosecution,? chief prosecutor said.

The move from General Prosecutor?s Office comes after
escalation of tensions relations between the central
authorities and the Adjarian leadership.
-------------------------------------------------------
8)
http://www.civil.ge/eng/article.php?id=6450

Civil Georgia
March 16, 2004

Banks Banned to Operate in Adjara

-The measure is the part of Georgia?s central
government decision to impose economic blockade on
defiant Adjarian leadership.


President of the National Bank of Georgia Irakli
Managadze announced on March 16, about suspending
banking operations in the Adjara Autonomous Republic.

The National Bank withdrew license of the Batumi-based
Maritime Bank. The Adjarian authorities made all the
financial transactions exclusively via the Maritime
Bank.

Irakli Managadze also said that all the branches of
the commercial banks operating in Georgia were ordered
to stop operating in the Autonomous Region.

The bank accounts of organizations linked to the
Adjarian leadership have been frozen.

The measure is the part of Georgia?s central
government decision to impose economic blockade on
defiant Adjarian leadership.
-------------------------------------------------------
9)
http://en.rian.ru/rian/index.cfm?prd_id=160&msg_id=4060646&startrow=1&date=2004-03-16&do_alert=0


Russian Information Agency (Novosti)
March 15, 2004

SITUATION IN ADZHARIA MAY HARM GEORGIA'S ECONOMY


-In recent years, 700,000-800,000 metric tons of oil
and oil products from Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan have
been transported to world markets through the Batumi
port.
Georgi Khukhashvili, a representative of Georgian
Railway Ltd., said on Tuesday that if the Adzharia
conflict continues it may harm the European Union's
TRACECA (the Europe-Caucasus-Asia transport route)
project....
-Experts said that the Adzharia conflict jeopardizes
the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline project.



TBILISI, March 16, 2004. (RIA Novosti) - The crisis in
Adzharia has caused problems with the transportation
of Caspian oil to the terminal in Batumi (capital of
Adzharia and port on the Black Sea), the Georgian
prime minister and the head of the Adzharia
anti-crisis center, Zurab Zhvania, told reporters in
Tbilisi.

"Adzharia's railroad connections to other regions of
Georgia have been fully blocked: the authorities of
the Adzharian autonomy have ordered the railroad
tracks to be removed on the administrative border,"
Mr. Zhvania said.

This complicates "the fulfilment of Georgia's
international commitments for the transit of oil
across its territory," he said.

In recent years, 700,000-800,000 metric tons of oil
and oil products from Kazakhstan and Turkmenistan have
been transported to world markets through the Batumi
port.

Georgi Khukhashvili, a representative of Georgian
Railway Ltd., said on Tuesday that if the Adzharia
conflict continues it may harm the European Union's
TRACECA (the Europe-Caucasus-Asia transport route)
project, Novosti-Georgia reported.

The transportation of Caspian oil through Georgia is
crucial for this project.

"Delays with the transportation of oil via Batumi may
force operator companies to stop using the Georgian
route," Mr. Khukhashvili said.

Experts said that the Adzharia conflict jeopardizes
the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline project.
-------------------------------------------------------
10)
http://en.rian.ru/rian/index.cfm?prd_id=160&msg_id=4059295&startrow=41&date=2004-03-16&do_alert=0

Russian Information Agency (Novosti)
March 16, 2004

SOUTH OSSETIA PREPARED FOR ANY DEVELOPMENTS IN
GEORGIA-ADZHARIA RELATIONS


MOSCOW, March 16, 2004. (RIA Novosti) - South Ossetia
has not mobilised its armed forces in the wake of the
latest developments in Adzharia, but it is prepared to
any turn-up, Konstantin Kochiyev, an adviser to the
president of this self-proclaimed republic on Georgian
territory, told RIA Novosti on Tuesday.

"We are worried by the threats Tbilisi has been
uttering with regard to the (Adzharian) autonomy
throughout the year now," said Mr. Kochiyev.

Mr. Kochiyev was positive that Georgia would
eventually resort to peaceful methods of settling
disputes with Adzharia and lift the blockade.

Mr. Kochiyev compared Adzharia to a besieged fortress,
in which people were mobilising psychologically.

"It is possible to live in such conditions for a long
time. We have survived and upheld our independence,"
said Mr. Kochiyev.

However, sources in South Ossetia's Security Council
report that the republic's military contingents were
put on high alert. What is going on around Adzharia
may well repeat with regard to South Ossetia,
furthermore so the Georgian central government has
already made militant statements in relation to
Tskhinvali (South Ossetia's capital), Security Council
Secretary Dzhemal Karkusev told reporters.
-------------------------------------------------------
11)
http://www.civil.ge/eng/detail.php?id=6449

Civil Georgia
March 16, 2004


Azerbaijan Concerned over BTC as Tensions Increase in
Adjara


-The U.S.-backed and BP-led strategic BTC pipeline is
due to transport Azeri oil to Turkish Mediterranean
port of Ceyhan via Georgia.
The route of the pipeline stretches around couple of
hounded kilometers away from the Adjarian capital
Batumi.



Azerbaijani Foreign Minister Vilayat Guliyev did not
rule out that the recent developments in Georgia?s
Autonomous Republic of Adjara ?may negatively
influence? construction of the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan Oil
Pipeline (BTC).

?We [Azerbaijani authorities] do not rule out, that
the developments in Georgia will create obstacles for
implementation of the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan project,?
Russian news agency RIA Novosti quoted the Azeri
Foreign Minister.

He also admitted that acceleration of tension between
the central and regional authorities of Georgia will
trigger destabilization in entire South Caucasus
region.

The U.S.-backed and BP-led strategic BTC pipeline is
due to transport Azeri oil to Turkish Mediterranean
port of Ceyhan via Georgia.

The route of the pipeline stretches around couple of
hounded kilometers away from the Adjarian capital
Batumi.

Sources in BP Tbilisi office told Civil Georgia that
closure of borders with Adjara made it impossible to
transport already shipped pipes from Batumi port to
the place of construction.

However, as the source said, this will not cause a
major delay of construction of the Georgian section of
the BTC.
-------------------------------------------------------
12)
http://www.itar-tass.com/eng/level2.html?NewsID=552397&PageNum=0

Itar-Tass (Russia)
March 16, 2004


NATO wants Tbilisi-Batumi dispute to be settled
peacefully

-The NATO official said the alliance?s HQ was in
constant contact with the Georgian delegate to NATO
and the ambassadors of the alliance members were
expressing their views on the problem.


BRUSSELS, March 16 (Itar-Tass) - NATO is disturbed by
the aggravation of tension between Tbilisi and Batumi
and wants the two sides to revert to negotiations, an
official of the NATO Headquarters told Itar-Tass here
on Tuesday.

However, he added, there are no signs yet that this
tension is apt to trigger an armed clash. ?So far we
are witnessing only loud political statements and
decisions to enforce economic sanctions,? the official
said. ?We hope this will be all to it,? he added.

NATO comes out for the territorial integrity of
Georgia, but at the same time it wants all the
problems between Tbilisi and Batumi to be settled
peacefully, by means of negotiations, he stated.

The NATO official said the alliance?s HQ was in
constant contact with the Georgian delegate to NATO
and the ambassadors of the alliance members were
expressing their views on the problem. ?However, NATO
still deems premature any initiatives or demarches on
this score,? the official stressed.
-------------------------------------------------------
13)
http://en.rian.ru/rian/index.cfm?prd_id=160&msg_id=4059706&startrow=31&date=2004-03-16&do_alert=0


Russian Information Agency (Novosti)
March 16, 2004

ADZHARIAN SITUATION CREATES TENSION ACROSS THE GLOBE
RIA Novosti observer Nikolai Zherebtsov

-It is worth mentioning that the United States
maintains close co-operation with Georgia on military
issues, as US instructors continue to train special
forces in Georgia under the Train and Equip programme.

-Georgia's border guards have taken the waters of the
Batumi port under special control....Batumi has
already been blockaded by three Georgian navy
warships.
The railway and motorway linking Tbilisi and Batumi
have also been blocked, while Batumi airport is closed
as Georgia has closed Adzharian airspace.
-Meanwhile, Valery Arshba, Abkhazia's Vice President
(Abkhazia is a self-proclaimed republic within
Georgia), told journalists on Monday that the
Abkhazian armed forces would be put on alert in view
of the situation. "Abkhazia has already experienced
everything that is now taking place in Adzharia and
knows only too well where Tbilisi's ambitions in state
development can lead."




The problems around Adzharia, a small autonomous
republic within Georgia, have set alarm bells ringing
around the world. RIA Novosti has learnt in Strasbourg
that Secretary General of the Council of Europe Walter
Schwimmer has made a statement expressing his anxiety
over the growing tension between Tbilisi and Batumi.
Mr Schwimmer called on Georgian President Mikhail
Saakashvili and leader of the Adzharian autonomy Aslan
Abashidze to conduct real dialogue and avoid
exchanging bellicose statements, while he also
stressed that as a member of the Council of Europe,
Georgia should follow democratic principles.

Russia's recently re-elected President Vladimir Putin
has already discussed the situation around Adzharia
with Mikhail Saakashvili over the phone, and urged his
Georgian counterpart to solve the current situation
peacefully.

Washington, too, is concerned about the Adzharia
situation, and US Secretary of State Colin Powell has
already held a telephone conversation with Mikhail
Saakashvili.

After his meeting with the Georgian president in Poti
(a Georgian Black Sea port) on Monday, US Ambassador
to Georgia Richard Miles told reporters that the
present problems between Tbilisi and Batumi needed to
be solved urgently.

After highlighting the complicated nature of the
situation, the US diplomat said that his country was
to help Mr Saakashvili and Mr Abashidze find a
peaceful solution to the problem. Indeed, he added
that the crisis was Georgia's internal affair and that
the States had no intention of intervening directly in
it.

It is worth mentioning that the United States
maintains close co-operation with Georgia on military
issues, as US instructors continue to train special
forces in Georgia under the Train and Equip programme.


Moscow has had adopted a particular approach to the
situation. It is no secret that Russia quite
reasonably views Georgia as a zone of its geopolitical
interests and insists on a peaceful solution to all
issues related to Adzharia, the Russian Foreign
Ministry's official spokesman Alexander Yakovenko has
announced.

According to him, Moscow expects solution to the
current situation will be secured through dialogue
between Georgia and Adzharia, which will help preserve
stability in the country. At the same time, a
statement by Yakovenko released on Sunday ran that if
a crisis occurred in Tbilisi-Batumi relations, the
central Georgian leadership would have to take
responsibility for it. In his opinion, Russia has
reason to believe that "Tbilisi is planning to resort
to force." He believes that such action could lead to
the most dramatic and serious consequences, above all
for Georgia. "The Georgian leadership has repeatedly
announced that it intends to solve the country's
problems by democratic means," Mr Yakovenko recalled.

However, he pointed out that this intention was not
always translated into life.

Moreover, the spokesman, in reference to President
Saakashvili's Sunday night ultimatum to Adzharian
leader Aslan Abashidze, demanding that he be granted
free movement across the autonomy within 24 hours,
stressed that ultimatums could lead to the situation
"descending into chaos and civil strife."

President Saakashvili's harsh statement came after he
and his armed escort were refused entry into the
autonomy on Sunday.

"An ultimatum is not the way to speak to one's own
people in one's country, and in particular to a leader
who is not appointed or dismissed by the president,"
Mr Abashidze told Russian reporters in Batumi on
Monday.

"The president is a person who represents the state,
there are more requirements made of him, and he should
be an example," the Adzharian leader continued. A
family head would hardly walk with a gun in his hand
around the house and scare his family members, Mr
Abashidze stressed.

When asked if he were ready to let Mr Saakashvili onto
Adzharian territory, Mr Abashidze said, "Yes, if he's
alone or accompanied by 2-3 others, but not many,
because armed forces are behind them."

Tbilisi's reaction was immediate: the Georgian
leadership decided to set up a special anti-crisis
centre to address Adzharian issues. The Georgian
leader announced this news on Monday at an emergency
session of the Georgian government in Poti (western
Georgia) devoted to the situation in the autonomy.

"Our main task is to protect democracy and human
rights, and disarm and neutralise armed people on
Adzharian territory. To this end, we are forming an
anti-crisis centre headquartered in Poti," the
president said, adding that Prime Minister Zurab
Zhvania had been appointed head of the centre.

The Georgian leader said that the centre had been
instructed to prevent any unauthorised movements to or
from Adzharia. To this end, Georgia's border guards
have taken the waters of the Batumi port under special
control. "These measures are aimed at preventing
weapons or military hardware from being delivered to
Adzharia," said Mr Saakashvili.

Batumi has already been blockaded by three Georgian
navy warships.

The railway and motorway linking Tbilisi and Batumi
have also been blocked, while Batumi airport is closed
as Georgia has closed Adzharian airspace.

However, the thing is that Russia's 12th military base
is located on Adzharian territory. "Russian military
personnel stationed in Georgia are clearly following
instructions to maintain neutrality, not intervene in
Georgia's internal affairs and to use weapons only if
somebody tries to infiltrate the base and seize
hardware and weapons," a statement from the Russian
embassy in Tbilisi reads. The embassy has also denied
Georgian media reports that military equipment had
been moved outside the Russian base.

Considering Moscow's particular role in the region,
Russia should become a mediator in the conflict
between Tbilisi and Batumi, Chairman of the State Duma
international affairs committee Konstantin Kosachev
told reporters on Monday. While expressing his
conviction that no economic or administrative pressure
should be applied, let alone military means, the
Russian parliamentarian said that most important point
now was for the conflicting sides to avoid threatening
or issuing ultimatums to each other.

Moscow Mayor Yuri Luzhkov has agreed to play the role
of mediator. He has already arrived at the Adzharian
border from Turkey and held negotiations with Mr
Abashidze. Mr Luzhkov is currently in Batumi.

Meanwhile, Valery Arshba, Abkhazia's Vice President
(Abkhazia is a self-proclaimed republic within
Georgia), told journalists on Monday that the
Abkhazian armed forces would be put on alert in view
of the situation. "Abkhazia has already experienced
everything that is now taking place in Adzharia and
knows only too well where Tbilisi's ambitions in state
development can lead," he noted referring to the
bloodshed that resulted in Abkhazia's de facto
secession from Georgia in the early 1990s.

The latest reports from Adzharia indicate that events
could develop into the most undesirable scenario.

"Adzharia's military and law enforcement structures
mined the bridge across the Choloki River on the
autonomy's administrative border on March 15," the
Georgian TV company, Rustavi-2, has reported.
Adzharian Interior Minister Dzhemal Gogitidze has
confirmed this, according to the television station,
by saying that the move had been taken to prevent
Georgia's armed forces from penetrating the autonomy.

"Mikhail Saakashvili's actions and statements are
pushing Adzharia to proclaim independence. This is the
president's mistake," said Mr Gogitidze.

He promised to prevent any destabilisation of the
situation in Adzharia. "We are now set on avoiding any
conflict situations, but we will respond to force with
force, and to goodwill with goodwill," the Adzharian
minister said.






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