In February 2002 Valery Haburzania, head of the Georgian Ministry of State Security, had to admit at a Cabinet meeting: "In the Pankisi Valley, the Chechen fighters are trying to set up training camps". At the same time the US for the first time made public its plans to send troops to Georgia to fight terrorism. Thus the presence of bandits in this region was recognized by Georgia itself, as well as the world at large.
However, Georgian leaders, in spite of all their promises, took no action to destroy the said bandits, which became evident on July 27, 2002, when Chechen gunmen intruded on Russian territory from the Pankisi Valley. In autumn of the same year Georgian special forces conducted a large-scale mop-up operation in the Pankisi Valley, after which Georgian President Edward Shevardnadze stated that there were no more terrorists in the valley. But the steady flow of reports alleging their continued presence there testified to the contrary.
One could hope for a change in the situation with the coming to power of Mikhail Saakashvili, an indefatigable fighter against corruption and discrimination of Georgians. When he was Minister of Justice, Saakashvili had been campaigning for a closure of the Ichkerian Representative Office in Tbilisi and expulsion of Chechen separatists from the country. Regretfully, it all came to nothing. Moreover, one cannot but feel that Georgian authorities who had repeatedly claimed that the Pankisi Valley was free of bandits, have become, due to their do-nothing attitude, a virtual accomplice of terrorists in the region.
As of today, the bandits have again become active in the Pankisi valley. According to local sources, in the Khorojo area there are about 300 Chechen militants and foreign mercenaries (no doubt, linked to al-Qaeda). They are openly getting trained at special camps and, in addition, drafting new recruits and informants from among the local inhabitants. As inhabitants of the Duisi area report, a 200-strong bandit formation that was previously headed by Ruslan Guelayev (killed) has been amassing in the area. The terrorist gangs confiscate the local people's cattle, provisions and conduct an anti-Russian and fundamentalist Vakhabite propaganda campaign. Concentration of bandit gangs near the villages of Omalo and Tsinobaly has also been reported.
Sources in the Georgian community in Moscow claim the bandits' staging post in the Nizhni Khalatsani settlement is run by one of A. Maskhadov's closest relatives, whom Maskhadov himself often comes to visit.
With all the lawlessness going on around, the local inhabitants cannot ask the authorities to come to their help, since the officialdom take the part of the bandits and themselves inform them of the forthcoming visits of international inspection commissions.
It may be assumed that in this way the Georgian leadership is paying off for the use of bandit formations in its sabotage and terror activities in Southern Ossetia, a possibility discussed recently at the talks between Georgian Minister of Defense I. Okruashvili and Maskhadov's emissary Kh. Aldamov.
For his turn, M. Saakashvili has been quick to master the tactics of double-standard policies, thanks to the offices of good instructors. By simultaneously speaking about his firm intention to peacefully settle the Georgian-Ossetian conflict and provide special conditions for the Republic to join Georgia - witness his latest speech at the meeting with US congressmen in Tbilisi, and doing nothing about the Pankisi international hotbed of terrorism and sometimes openly giving terrorists protection on Georgian soil, Saakashvili is fanning the flames of a new war not only with neighboring republics, but inside Georgia itself as well.
Right now, what with a big hike in the prices of many commodities and food stuffs, Saakashvili's rating has begun to fall. Considering the atrocities the terrorist gangs are committing against the Georgian population, whom Saakashvuli was so eager to protect before his election as President, the country's population has no other choice but stage a new revolution. But it can be assumed that with the presence on Georgian territory of international terrorists sheltered by the present regime, the revolution may not be as velvety as before.
However, Georgian leaders, in spite of all their promises, took no action to destroy the said bandits, which became evident on July 27, 2002, when Chechen gunmen intruded on Russian territory from the Pankisi Valley. In autumn of the same year Georgian special forces conducted a large-scale mop-up operation in the Pankisi Valley, after which Georgian President Edward Shevardnadze stated that there were no more terrorists in the valley. But the steady flow of reports alleging their continued presence there testified to the contrary.
One could hope for a change in the situation with the coming to power of Mikhail Saakashvili, an indefatigable fighter against corruption and discrimination of Georgians. When he was Minister of Justice, Saakashvili had been campaigning for a closure of the Ichkerian Representative Office in Tbilisi and expulsion of Chechen separatists from the country. Regretfully, it all came to nothing. Moreover, one cannot but feel that Georgian authorities who had repeatedly claimed that the Pankisi Valley was free of bandits, have become, due to their do-nothing attitude, a virtual accomplice of terrorists in the region.
As of today, the bandits have again become active in the Pankisi valley. According to local sources, in the Khorojo area there are about 300 Chechen militants and foreign mercenaries (no doubt, linked to al-Qaeda). They are openly getting trained at special camps and, in addition, drafting new recruits and informants from among the local inhabitants. As inhabitants of the Duisi area report, a 200-strong bandit formation that was previously headed by Ruslan Guelayev (killed) has been amassing in the area. The terrorist gangs confiscate the local people's cattle, provisions and conduct an anti-Russian and fundamentalist Vakhabite propaganda campaign. Concentration of bandit gangs near the villages of Omalo and Tsinobaly has also been reported.
Sources in the Georgian community in Moscow claim the bandits' staging post in the Nizhni Khalatsani settlement is run by one of A. Maskhadov's closest relatives, whom Maskhadov himself often comes to visit.
With all the lawlessness going on around, the local inhabitants cannot ask the authorities to come to their help, since the officialdom take the part of the bandits and themselves inform them of the forthcoming visits of international inspection commissions.
It may be assumed that in this way the Georgian leadership is paying off for the use of bandit formations in its sabotage and terror activities in Southern Ossetia, a possibility discussed recently at the talks between Georgian Minister of Defense I. Okruashvili and Maskhadov's emissary Kh. Aldamov.
For his turn, M. Saakashvili has been quick to master the tactics of double-standard policies, thanks to the offices of good instructors. By simultaneously speaking about his firm intention to peacefully settle the Georgian-Ossetian conflict and provide special conditions for the Republic to join Georgia - witness his latest speech at the meeting with US congressmen in Tbilisi, and doing nothing about the Pankisi international hotbed of terrorism and sometimes openly giving terrorists protection on Georgian soil, Saakashvili is fanning the flames of a new war not only with neighboring republics, but inside Georgia itself as well.
Right now, what with a big hike in the prices of many commodities and food stuffs, Saakashvili's rating has begun to fall. Considering the atrocities the terrorist gangs are committing against the Georgian population, whom Saakashvuli was so eager to protect before his election as President, the country's population has no other choice but stage a new revolution. But it can be assumed that with the presence on Georgian territory of international terrorists sheltered by the present regime, the revolution may not be as velvety as before.
