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Thursday, 18 April 2002
GEORGIAN SPEAKER: GEORGIA WAS WRONG TO DENY PRESENCE OF CHECHEN REBELS
By empty (4/18/2002 issue of the CACI Analyst)
In a published interview on 18 April, Georgian Parliamentary Speaker Nino Burdjanadze stated that it was a mistake for Georgia to deny the presence of Chechen rebels in its country. The speaker added that "an objective picture" of the presence of Chechen rebels should have been provided and she promised that "I stand for being totally open about the existing problems." The Georgian government had long denied Russian claims that Chechen rebels were using Georgian territory as an operational refuge for cross-border attacks on Russian troops in Chechnya.
In a published interview on 18 April, Georgian Parliamentary Speaker Nino Burdjanadze stated that it was a mistake for Georgia to deny the presence of Chechen rebels in its country. The speaker added that "an objective picture" of the presence of Chechen rebels should have been provided and she promised that "I stand for being totally open about the existing problems." The Georgian government had long denied Russian claims that Chechen rebels were using Georgian territory as an operational refuge for cross-border attacks on Russian troops in Chechnya. Burdjanadze also criticized President Eduard Shevardnadze's positive remark about Chechen field commander Ruslan Gelaev as "a big mistake." (CNA)