War fears over spy-plane row
Tuesday, 6 May 2008
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Officials in the breakaway Georgian region of Abkhazia yesterday showed off what they said was the wreckage of two unmanned Georgian spy planes that were downed over the weekend.
Georgia has denied that any of its planes were shot down, but Russia — a longtime backer of Abkhazia — quickly accused Georgia of inflaming tensions by sending the unmanned planes to spy on Abkhazian forces.
Georgia retorted that it was Moscow that was being provocative by unilaterally bolstering its peacekeeping forces.
The back-and-forth has fueled fears that full-scale fighting could break out involving Georgia, Abkhazia and the strengthened Russian peacekeeping force deployed along the administrative border separating Georgia and Abkhazia.
In Abkhazia's main city, Sukhumi, Deputy Defence Minister Garry Gupalba showed reporters what he said was debris from one of the planes, which he said were shot down Sunday by Abkhazian surface-to-air missiles. He said the wreckage showed that the plane was of the same Israeli make as another plane that was downed two weeks ago.
"According to our data, this is an unmanned flying object of the same class (as those that were downed earlier)," he said in televised comments.
Footage broadcast on Russian state-run TV showed blackened metal wreckage, some of which appeared to have Russian lettering on it.
Georgia, meanwhile, announced it was withdrawing from a 1995 agreement that coordinated air defenses among defense ministries in 10 former Soviet republics. The move is expected to have little practical effect, since the two countries have not coordinated air defenses in years.
Still, Russia's foreign minister, Sergey Lavrov, again accused Georgia of purposely exacerbating tensions and planning to use military force in Abkhazia.
Abkhazia and another region, South Ossetia, have had de-facto independence since the 1990s, and Moscow's long-standing support for the two regions has long angered Georgia. Russia last week augmented its peacekeeping force in Abkhazia.
Russia opposes Georgia's efforts to draw closer to the United States and NATO, saying membership in the alliance would pose a direct threat to Russia.
In an interview with The Associated Press, Georgia's prime minister urged the international community to pressure Russia to reverse its recent moves in Abkhazia, which he called "provocative deliberate actions."
"It is clearly not in Georgian interest to have any armed conflict in its territory. We are in the middle of what some call Georgian economic miracle. ... We would be crazy to wish any military action," Vladimir Gurgenidze said.
The European Union said that it was "seriously concerned" by Russia's decision to send more troops to Abkhazia and establish additional boundary checkpoints.
"The EU calls on all sides to refrain from any steps that could increase tensions and urges the sides to take action to rebuild confidence," the 27-nation bloc said in a statement.
