Agence France Presse — English
July 30, 2005 Saturday 9:15 AM GMT

Russian troops begin pullout from Georgia

TBILISI

Russia began withdrawing its troops Saturday from Georgia two months
after the two countries reached agreement on the closure of two
Russian military bases on Georgian territory leftover from when both
states were part of the Soviet Union, officials said.

An initial column of nine military vehicles pulled out of the Russian
base at Batumi in southwest Georgia on the Black Sea coast and was
headed out of the country as Georgian and Russian military officials
witnessed the start of the withdrawal, they said.

Russia’s military presence in Georgia dates back to the second half
of the 18th century when Georgian leaders requested Russian
protection from Turkish and Persian invaders and the country was
subsumed into the expanding Russian empire.

But that presence became increasingly controversial following the
1991 breakup of the Soviet Union and after years of bitter argument
the two sides finalized an agreement on May 30 this year on the
closure of the last two Russian bases in Georgia by the end of 2008.

One base is at Batumi and the other at Akhalkalaki near Georgia’s
border with Armenia.

The pullout had been scheduled to begin on Friday but was delayed by
one day due to Russian complaints that Georgian authorities had not
provided visas for soldiers and other documentation required to take
the military hardware across the border and out of the country.

A Russian military official said that problem had been resolved,
allowing the pullout to begin.

“The Georgian side promised to provide us with all the necessary
documents for the withdrawal of our armored vehicles,” Vladimir
Kuparadze, the deputy commander of Russian forces in Georgia, said.

A spokesman for the Georgian Justice Ministry said the documents
needed by the Russian forces had been delivered within one day after
they were requested instead of the usual month it takes to process
them.

And Georgian Foreign Minister Salome Zurabishvili stressed that
timely withdrawal of the Russian forces was in Georgia’s interest and
vowed that all necessary documentation would be provided as quickly
as possible.

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress