Georgia Says Russia Has Massed 7,000 Troops in South Ossetia

[seemslikeadream]

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601087&sid=aPgU6ambCy9U&refer=home

By Helena Bedwell

Oct. 23 (Bloomberg) -- Russia has deployed as many as 7,000 soldiers in the separatist region of South Ossetia, leading Georgia to suspect ``further provocations'' following a five-day war in August, a Georgian Interior Ministry spokesman said.

Shota Utiashvili said Georgia has been monitoring ``suspicious movements'' by Russia's military in South Ossetia, the object of Georgia's war with Russia. ``Up to 2,000 soldiers have entered the region which, added to troops already in the area, make at least 7,000,'' he said by telephone today in the capital Tbilisi.

The South Ossetian government denied Georgia's claim about a Russian troop buildup. ``What Mikheil Saakashvili's government says about us and our Russian allies is nonsense,'' spokeswoman Irina Gagloyeva said by telephone from the regional capital Tskhinvali. ``Some troops are here, but we feel safe with them around since we face continual provocations from the Georgian side.''

Russia recognized the independence of South Ossetia and another breakaway region, Abkhazia, from Georgia on Aug. 26. Only Nicaragua has followed suit. Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said on Sept. 8 that his decision to recognize the regions was ``final'' and ``irrevocable.'' Defense Minister Anatoly Serdyukov said the following day that Russia had agreed to deploy about 3,800 soldiers in each region.

A European Union-brokered cease-fire agreement that ended the fighting in Georgia requires Russia to remove its forces to their pre-conflict positions. Russia sent about 10,000 soldiers into Georgia during the fighting, according to state-run news service RIA Novosti.

[muriel_volestrangler]

1. Meanwhile, Russia says: "Clashes may resume in Caucasus, if EU observers not to work"

MOSCOW, October 23 (Itar-Tass) -- Russia is concerned over the fact that EU observers do not perform their function of security guarantors in the zones adjoining South Ossetia and Abkhazia, Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov told a press conference after the talks with his Latvian counterpart on Thursday.

“The Georgian side does not perform the decision to withdraw the troops to their permanent deployment positions, dispatches commandoes and other units to these districts. EU observers still pay little attention to this fact, though the European Union acts as a guarantor of the non-use of force,” he recalled.

“We are concerned over a so light-minded attitude to the events in these regions. It is a dangerous play with fire. Such activity is fraught with new clashes,” Lavrov said.

http://www.itar-tass.com/eng/level2.html?NewsID=13202106&PageNum=0

I hope that's just sabre-rattling.