 Russian armor starts pulling back from Georgia
(China Daily)
Updated: 2008-08-22 07:50
A column of Russian armor withdrew from central Georgia yesterday in what the Defense Ministry in Moscow said was the start of a pullback of forces, Interfax News Agency reported. A cameraman in the South Ossetian capital Tskhinvali saw dozens of tanks and armored personnel carriers arriving in the town from the south. Interfax said the column was heading north towards the Russian border. The Kremlin had promised to pull back Russian forces from core areas of Georgia by today under a French-brokered ceasefire plan. The United States accused Russia on Wednesday of dragging its feet, saying the size and pace of the pullout had been insignificant and needed to increase. The West fears Moscow may use ambiguities in a ceasefire deal and previous agreements to keep large numbers of extra troops in and around rebel South Ossetia to step up economic and political pressure on Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili. The crisis erupted on Aug 7-8 when the small Caucasus state, which has a border with Russia, tried to retake South Ossetia, a pro-Moscow region which broke with Tbilisi in 1992. Russian forces hit back, thrusting beyond the region into the Georgian heartland, overrunning the army in fierce fighting. Moscow has not committed so far to returning all of its troop reinforcements to base, as foreseen in the six-point peace plan. Diplomacy at the UN Security Council to end the crisis moved up a notch when Russia circulated a draft resolution endorsing a six-point plan already agreed by Moscow and Tbilisi. But the West wants to clarify parts of that plan it fears could allow Russia scope for further military action inside Georgia. A correspondent at Verkhny Zaramag, on the border between Russia and South Ossetia, said the only heavy armor heading north on Wednesday via the crossing was a column of Georgian equipment seized by Russian forces. He saw eight armored personnel carriers, followed by three T-72 main battle tanks. The tanks had markings on their turrets in Latin script. Russian armor has Cyrillic markings. Russian checkpoints were still in place on the axis road between Igoeti, the closest Russian presence to the capital, Tbilisi, and Gori. Many Russian soldiers were wearing the insignia of peacekeepers. The Kremlin has said some of its troops would withdraw to a buffer zone today. "The remaining portion of the contingent that was sent to reinforce the Russian peacekeeping mission will withdraw to the territory of South Ossetia and to Russia," a Kremlin statement said. Agencies (China Daily 08/22/2008 page21) |
