Russians dig in despite promised Georgia pullout

[David]

AP


POTI, Georgia - Russian troops manned checkpoints and controlled traffic on major highways across Georgia and Russian military helicopters buzzed overhead Friday, the day that Russia's president had said a pullback would be complete.

A top Russian general amended President Dmitry Medvedev's prediction, saying Thursday it could be 10 days before the bulk of Russian troops leave Georgia. But nearly a week after an EU-brokered cease-fire, the mixed signals from Moscow left Georgians and the world guessing about Russia's true intentions.

"If they're leaving, it is at a snail's pace," said Gen. John Craddock, commander of U.S. European Command, as he ended a two-day assessment trip in Georgia. "It is far too little and far too slow."

The short but intense war on Russia's southern border has deeply strained relations between Russia and the West. Russia has frozen its military cooperation with NATO, Moscow's Cold War foe, underscoring a growing division in Europe. Georgia has wanted to join NATO, a move that angered Russia.

Under the cease-fire deal, Russian forces are to pull back to positions they held before intense fighting broke out Aug. 7 in South Ossetia, a separatist province in Georgia that has close ties to Russia. Russia says it will keep troops in South Ossetia — where Russia had a peacekeeping contingent for more than a decade — and in a buffer zone in Georgia proper.

Western leaders remained adamant that Russia remove its troops and do it quickly.

President Bush told Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili that the U.S. "expects Russia to abide by its agreement to withdraw forces," White House spokesman Gordon Johndroe said. The Georgian leader called Bush on Thursday.

The Russian parliament will discuss recognizing the independence of Abkhazia and South Ossetia on Monday, Russian newspapers reported Friday.

On Friday, Russian troops looked to be establishing along-term presence in South Ossetia. A top Russian general said troops had erected 18 peacekeeping posts in a so-called "security zone" around the border.

Col. Gen. Anatoly Nogovitsyn, deputy head of Russia's general staff, said in televised remarks that the move was "to prevent the infiltration of groups of looters and the transportation of unaccounted arms and ammunition."

Nogovitsyn said Russia suspected Georgia of military offensives in South Ossetia and Georgia's other breakaway province of Abkhazia, where a further 18 peacekeeping posts are to be set up.

A total of 2,142 Russian peacekeepers are to be deployed on the Abkhazia de facto border, while 452 will man the South Ossetia de facto border, Nogovitsyn said.

In Igoeti, a major checkpoint on the road from the capital Tbilisi to Gori, Russian troops were allowing aid organizations and local traffic through on Friday. Red Cross vehicles, mine-clearing jeeps and trucks carrying peaches were seen heading into Gori.

Russian helicopters flew overhead as military trucks shuttled in and out of Gori past the checkpoint, where Russian flags were flapping in the wind.

Further west, near a base at the key Black Sea port of Poti, Russian troops were seen digging large trenches near a bridge that provides the only access to the city. Five trucks, several armored personnel carriers and a helicopter were parked nearby. Another Russian position was seen in a wooded area outside the city.

Alexander Lomaia, Georgia's security council chief, said Russia's control of key Georgian roads aimed to "suffocate us economically" and "steer anger among the population, which can be channeled toward the government of this country."

While refugees from the fighting crammed into Georgian schools and office buildings in and around the capital of Tbilisi, a scattering of people left in deserted villages were badly in need of basics.

"There is no bread, there is no food, no medicine. People are dying," said Nina Meladze, 45, in the village of Nadarbazevi, outside the key crossroads city of Gori. She stayed while others fled to Tbilisi because she could not leave elderly relatives behind.

She said the village has been virtually abandoned since the war broke out. "I cannot go on like this anymore, I cry every day," she said.

The commander of Russian land forces, Gen. Vladimir Boldyrev, said it would take about 10 days for troops not involved in manning the security zones to complete their withdrawal to Russia. That suggested Russian soldiers could still be holding territory in Georgia until the end of August.

In a move sure to heighten tensions, a U.S. Navy guided missile destroyer loaded with humanitarian supplies headed toward Georgia through Turkey's straits between the Mediterranean and the Black Sea. It was the first of three U.S. warships carrying blankets, hygiene kits and baby food to Georgia.

The United States has carried out 20 aid flights to Georgia since Aug. 19. The U.N. estimates 158,000 people have fled their homes.

The deserted ethnic Georgian villages around the South Ossetian capital, Tskhinvali, stood burning and bore evidence of looting. In the village of Achabeti, an AP reporter saw Ossetians remove chairs, window frames and whatever else they could carry from abandoned Georgian houses.

Some Ossetians said they were not prepared to live next to ethnic Georgians anymore.

"It's not they, it's we who will erase them from the face of Earth," said Alan Didurov, 46.