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Fighting Continues In South Ossetia
By Jean-Christophe Peuch, RFE/RL
August 17, 2004
Photo By NTV
South Ossetia, Georgia - Fresh fighting and further casualties were reported overnight in Georgia's separatist republic of South Ossetia. The violence erupted hours after Georgia and South Ossetia reached an agreement under which all armed units that are not part of joint peacekeeping forces would be withdrawn from the area -- provided there were no further clashes.
Meanwhile, Georgian authorities are demanding that an international conference convene to discuss the situation.
Early today, the Tbilisi-based private Rustavi-2 television station reported South Ossetian troops had opened fire overnight on the ethnic Georgian village of Eredvi, east of the regional capital Tskhinvali, killing one Georgian soldier and wounding three others.
Tskhinvali, in turn, said clashes erupted after Georgian Interior Ministry troops started shelling the ethnic Ossetian village of Prisi, prompting separatist forces to return fire.
None of these claims could be independently verified.
The fighting lasted several hours and abated only at dawn. No casualties were reported on the South Ossetian side.
It was the third such incident since both sides 13 August reached a short-lived cease-fire agreement.
Tbilisi claims six of its soldiers have been killed in the so-called "conflict zone" since 12 August while defending ethnic Georgian villages against separatist attacks.
Yet, it has failed to produce any evidence sustaining its claims. The identity of the dead soldiers has not been made public and, despite Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili's claims that those killed in action "died the deaths of heroes," no public ceremony honoring their memory has been held.
"We will do everything possible to avoid war. It is not in the interest of the Georgian government to wage a war. We do not want war. But if war cannot be avoided, we will accept the challenge of those who want to fight us. This is Georgia, this is our country, and these are our people" -- Georgian Defense Minister Giorgi Baramidze
The reported violence has raised the prospect of a resumption of the separatist conflict that pitted South Ossetian troops against Georgian armed forces in the early 1990s.
Talking to reporters yesterday in Tbilisi, Georgian Defense Minister Giorgi Baramidze warned the South Ossetian leadership that his troops were ready to repel any further separatist attack against ethnic Georgian villages.
"We will do everything possible to avoid war. It is not in the interest of the Georgian government to wage a war. We do not want war. But if war cannot be avoided, we will accept the challenge of those who want to fight us. This is Georgia, this is our country, and these are our people," Baramidze says.
South Ossetia's Press and Information Committee head Irina Gagloyeva tells RFE/RL that despite such threats, Baramidze later talked on the telephone to Anatoli Barankevich, the defense minister of the separatist government, and the two men pledged to implement the recent cease-fire agreement.
Baramidze vowed that, as long as no fighting was reported overnight, Georgia would withdraw all of its troops that are not part of the four-party peacekeeping contingent mandated to monitor the 1992 Dagomys peace agreement that formally brought an end to the Georgian-South Ossetian conflict. Baramidze is formally in charge of Georgia's peacekeeping contingent.
But Gagloyeva says not everyone on the Georgian side upheld the agreement. "I can tell you that no shot was fired in the zone controlled by Baramidze and Barankevich. Both sides have implemented their pledges. The shooting came from positions occupied by troops under the command of [Georgian Interior Minister] Irakli Okruashvili," Gagloyeva says.
Baramidze and Barankevich met in a South Ossetian village today. Gagloyeva says both men agreed on a series of practical steps aimed at defusing tension in the area.
"Both defense ministers met this morning and agreed that all illegal formations maintained [in the area] by Georgia will be withdrawn, and at this very moment roadblocks near the ethnic Georgian village of Tamaresheni are being removed," Gagloyeva says.
Tbilisi's decision to dispatch troops to the separatist enclave -- officially to crack down on local criminal rings -- has renewed suspicions in Tskhinvali that Georgian authorities are seeking to retake the region by force.
Tbilisi in turn says it is seeking a peaceful reunion with South Ossetia, and accuses the separatist leadership of aiming to cleanse the region of all remaining ethnic Georgians with the help of outside fighters.
Talking to RFE/RL Georgian Service correspondent Davit Kakabadze, Georgia's State Minister for Conflict Resolution Giorgi Khaindrava said that Tbilisi is seeking the departure of all these alleged mercenaries and would welcome any help from South Ossetia in that effort.
"The chief of the Georgian Army General Staff, [General Givi] Iukuridze, today met Colonel Barankevich and together they inspected the area [where tonight's clashes occurred]. We do not rule out a possible joint operation against those armed groups that do not obey the joint command of the peacekeeping forces," Khaindrava said.
Meanwhile, the Georgian leadership is seeking to internationalize its dispute with South Ossetia.
Addressing reporters yesterday in Tbilisi, Georgian Prime Minister Zurab Zhvania said the government is demanding that an international conference convene as soon as possible to discuss recent developments in the breakaway region.
"The president of Georgia has come up with an unprecedented initiative. He will ask Western world leaders to convene an emergency international conference to discuss ways to ensure peace in the Tskhinvali region. We believe representatives of Russia, but also of all country members of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, should attend this conference and help us reach peace," Zhvania said.
Zhvania also reiterated an earlier call for direct talks with South Ossetian leader Eduard Kokoity. But Kokoity has given no indication that is he ready for such a meeting.
Meanwhile, Western governments and neighboring countries have expressed renewed concerns at the repeated cease-fire violations.
In a statement released yesterday, Ukraine's Foreign Ministry called upon both sides to resume "direct political dialogue."
Russia today said its foreign minister, Sergei Lavrov, discussed by phone the situation in South Ossetia with U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell.
U.S. State Department spokesman Tom Casey yesterday called upon both sides to abide by the 13 August cease-fire agreement. Casey refused to elaborate on Georgian claims that the South Ossetian leadership is mainly responsible for the violence.
"I don't think I want to stand here and try to interpret who shot first, [and] where on the ground, in any of these individual incidents. The point of the matter is that there are continuing violations of the cease-fire that are being reported, and that needs to stop. The cease-fire agreement needs to be implemented and we need to go forward with political dialogue and discussion through the Joint Control Commission," Casey said.
The Joint Control Commission (JCC) -- which includes representatives of Russia, Georgia, South Ossetia, and neighboring North Ossetia -- is in charge of monitoring the 1992 peace agreement. It has met several times over the past few days to try to defuse tension in South Ossetia, but to no avail.
Whether a new JCC meeting that is due to take place in Tbilisi today will reach any breakthrough remains unclear.
Georgian news agencies today quoted Zhvania as describing the planned session as a "waste of time."
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