BORJOMI FLAMES: GEORGIA BLAMES THE RUSSIAN MILITARY FOR FOREST FIRES
Albert Yeremjan

WPS Agency
DEFENSE and SECURITY (Russia)
August 20, 2008 Wednesday
Russia

GEORGIAN MILITARY EXPERT SUSPECTS THAT RUSSIA MIGHT ESTABLISH MILITARY
BASES IN THIS COUNTRY; A look at the situation from Tbilisi.

All involved parties signed the document stipulating the withdrawal
of the Russian troops from Georgia but implementation of the plan
encounters unexpected glitches. David Bakradze of the parliament of
Georgia said his country had put the cease-fire clause into effect and
counted on Russia’s good will in fulfilling its own obligations. The
Russians troops meanwhile are in Georgia.

The Georgian Foreign Ministry reported the railroad bridge in the Kasp
district blown up by the Russian military last Saturday. The bridge
connected Georgia with Armenia and Azerbaijan, so that its destruction
affected these countries too. Another railroad bridge was discovered
to be wired for explosion in the same district. Specialists discovered
nearly 400 kilograms of high explosions lashed to the understructure.

The same sources claim that the Abkhazian military backed by Russian
regular army seized the territory around the Inguri Hydroelectric
Power Plant and 13 villages in the areas adjacent to Abkhazia.

Georgia is convinced that it was Russian military helicopters that
initiated some forest fires. The Rustavi-2 TV network reported
200 hectares of woods in the Borjomi-Kharaugli natural park gone
up in flames. The investigative Department of the Georgian Interior
Ministry called it ecocide (ecological genocide) and initiated criminal
proceedings. Georgian Minister of Environment and Natural Resources
Irakly Gvaladze said collection of evidence proving involvement of
the Russian military would begin when the fires were put out. The
nearby village of Dabi was evacuated. Only 4 families out of 120
chose to remain at home.

Military expert Irakly Aladashvili assumed that the decision of the
presidents who had clearly ordered the withdrawal of troops meant
nothing to the Russian military. "Russia is stalling for time, it’s
as simple as that," he said. "It wants to settle in Gori, nearby
villages, and in West Georgia in order to control communications and
sea ports… Russia might even establish military bases there one
day. It will be done in the guise of reinforcement of peacekeepers
even though peacekeepers have never been deployed there – and cannot
be deployed."

From: Emil Lazarian | Ararat NewsPress