Georgia Charges 4 Russians With Spying

"Russia"

09/29/2006

TBILISI, Georgia (AP) - Georgia on Friday charged four Russian military officers with spying, a police spokesman said, as relations between the two ex-Soviet neighbors plummeted to a new low.

Georgian police surrounding the Russian military headquarters in Tbilisi pressed for the surrender of another Russian officer accused of spying. Russia said it would not give up the officer.

Two Russian government planes landed in Tbilisi to take over a hundred Russian diplomats and their families out of Georgia, and Russia prepared to evacuate other citizens, citing security concerns.

“A direct threat has been created for Russian citizens here and we are very concerned about them,” Russian ambassador Vyacheslav Kovalenko told Russia’s NTV television.


Shota Khizanishvili, spokesman for the Georgian Interior Minister, said espionage charges were officially filed against the four officers, who were detained on Wednesday. A court was to decide whether they should be held further. A fifth officer who had been held was released, he said.

Russia’s Foreign Ministry alerted all Russians to refrain from traveling to Georgia, and the Russian embassy in Tbilisi stopped issuing visas to Georgian citizens.

Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili denounced the Russian moves as hysteria. “Russian personnel and their families face absolutely no threat here,” he said.

Infuriated by the detentions of its military officers, Moscow announced Thursday that it was recalling its ambassador and evacuating its diplomats. It also complained to the United Nations, and Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov denounced Georgia as a “bandit” state.

Bilateral ties long have been strained over Georgia’s bid to join NATO and Moscow’s close links to Georgia’s breakaway provinces.

Tbilisi officials have accused Russia of backing separatists in Georgia’s Abkhazia and South Ossetia provinces and making efforts to undermine Saakashvili’s government - allegations Russia has denied.

Saakashvili came to power following Georgia’s 2003 Rose Revolution, pledging to move the country out of Russia’s orbit.

An official in South Ossetia, which the international community recognizes as part of Georgia, claimed Friday that Georgian security officers had beaten a group of Russian peacekeepers there. A spokesman for Georgian peacekeepers in the region denied the allegations.