Post by Bozur on Jul 13, 2008 13:06:44 GMT -5
Diplomatic Effort Seeks to Ease Tensions and Lead to Talks in Georgian Enclave
By C. J. CHIVERS
Published: May 22, 2008
In Sukhumi, Americans and Georgians discussed talks
SUKHUMI, Georgia — The long military standoff in Abkhazia, where a separatist dispute has threatened to escalate this year into a renewed war, has entered a phase of quiet diplomacy aimed at easing tensions and urging negotiations, officials on each side of the conflict said.
No agreement to negotiate has been reached, and the differences between the Abkhaz and Georgian governments remain vast. Each side cautions that an act of significant violence or other provocation could lead to war.
But this month, after Russia sent paratroopers and artillery across its borders to reinforce its peacekeeping contingent in the enclave, and as Georgian remotely piloted planes flew reconnaissance missions overhead, an American and a Georgian delegation traveled separately here to the Abkhaz capital to discuss the possibility of talks.
The dialogue appeared to reduce for the moment the risk of large-scale fighting and to create a chance to discuss confidence-building measures — even as military incidents continued along the contested zone.
On Wednesday, for example, as parliamentary elections were being held in Georgia, a firefight in the village of Kurcha destroyed two buses and wounded at least two civilians, Georgian officials said.
The diplomatic push seems also to have shifted some attention from tit-for-tat diplomatic and military escalations toward a recognition of the consequences of renewed war in the Caucasus, where two wars between Russian forces and Chechen separatists raged for most of a decade before subsiding in 2005.
Russia plans to host the Winter Olympics in 2014 in Sochi, about 15 miles from Abkhazia. A war near the city’s limits, which would almost certainly involve Russia, could threaten the Games on political and security grounds. And any sustained war could devastate Georgia, which is recovering from post-Soviet disorder but lacks the resources or military capacity to withstand a determined Russian attack.
The first delegation to Abkhazia, on May 10, was led by Matthew J. Bryza, an American deputy assistant secretary of state. The second, on May 11, was led by Irakli Alasania, Georgia’s representative to the United Nations.
Abkhaz officials have said the core of the dispute — Abkhazia’s insistence on independence — is not negotiable. But they hinted at possible economic cooperation and an agreement on the non-resumption of force. “The situation has come, I would say, to a red line,” said Sergei Shamba, Abkhazia’s foreign minister. “But our conversation with the Georgian representative, which I regard as private, reduced tensions.”
Abkhazia, a ribbon of sub-tropical and alpine territory on the Black Sea that once was a cherished vacation spot for the Soviet elite, lies within Georgia. It achieved de facto independence, and withering economic isolation, in a brief but ferocious war after Georgia’s effort to subdue the region by force in 1992.
The Abkhaz are a tiny ethnic group. They were initially routed by Georgian forces and subjected to what they call war crimes, including mass looting and the destruction of their homes. A special prosecutor’s office in Sukhumi says it has evidence of the killings of hundreds of civilians and dozens of rapes.
With help from Russia’s military and a confederation of fighters from the Caucasus who were sponsored by Russian intelligence agencies, the Abkhaz repelled Georgian troops in 1993.
Georgia contends that a retaliatory pogrom followed its army’s defeat, with hundreds of thousands of Georgians being chased from their homes in Abkhazia. Last week, the United Nations labeled the Abkhaz actions against Georgians a campaign of ethnic cleansing.
Since 1993, the conflict has devolved into a stalemate punctuated by occasional violence.
The tensions increased sharply in 2004, when President Mikheil Saakashvili of Georgia came to power. Mr. Saakashvili made national unification a centerpiece of his agenda, a position Abkhazia considers a prelude to war.
Tensions escalated further this year after Kosovo declared independence in February and was recognized by several Western nations. The Kremlin, which opposed an independent Kosovo, reacted by saying it would increase cooperation with Abkhazia and South Ossetia, another breakaway enclave in Georgia.
A season of brinkmanship has ensued, with each side accusing the other of massing forces, and Georgian drones on reconnaissance drawing fire from both the ground and from what Georgia said was a Russian fighter jet.
Russia has reinforced its peacekeepers, although their number and role remain in dispute. Russia and Abkhazia say that 2,500 Russian soldiers are in Abkhazia — well within the Commonwealth of Independent States peacekeeping mandate of up to 3,000 troops.
Georgian officials say that at least 3,500 Russians are in the conflict zone, as well as advisers who are surreptitiously training and leading Abkhaz units. Independent verification of these claims is not readily possible.
Each side insists that its troop movements have assured peace, and that the other’s have increased the risk of war. “We often hear that Russia’s actions destabilize the situation,” Mr. Shamba said. “This is not an objective assessment. We can say clearly that Russia’s tough actions stopped Georgia’s aggression.”
Abkhazia has also offered to allow Russia to station permanent forces at an Abkhaz air base in exchange for guarantees of protection. “Of course we dream of being a neutral state,” Mr. Shamba said. “Unfortunately we live in such a region where that is impossible.”
Georgia has been unwavering in its position that Abkhazia will be returned to Georgian control.
During Mr. Saakashvili’s presidency, Georgia has upgraded military equipment and intensified military training. It says it has 28,000 regular troops, including units that were trained by American marines and that have served in Afghanistan and Iraq. It also has private Israeli advisers.
Moreover, Mr. Saakashvili, who needs little urging to speak in populist tones, is ringed by young advisers, many of whom have taken a hard line. Although they say they do not want to resume fighting, they invariably add that Abkhazia must reintegrate with Georgia, or fighting might be inevitable.
At the center of the talks this month was a list of proposals by Mr. Saakashvili that would grant broad autonomy to Abkhazia in exchange for recognizing Georgian rule. These included constitutional changes and security guarantees that Georgia says would protect Abkhaz power, interests, language and culture.
Among them would be the creation of a Georgian vice presidency to be granted to an Abkhaz official, power-sharing arrangements to award Abkhazia control of some Georgian ministries and the merger of the Abkhaz and Georgian police and customs services. Abkhazia previously rejected the proposal. But Mr. Alasania said he focused on smaller steps that require no ideological concessions.
Daniel Fried, the United States assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian affairs, said in a telephone interview that after Mr. Alasania’s visit there appeared to be a chance to move beyond “the frankly moribund diplomatic process that we had been in for some time.”
www.nytimes.com/
By C. J. CHIVERS
Published: May 22, 2008
In Sukhumi, Americans and Georgians discussed talks
SUKHUMI, Georgia — The long military standoff in Abkhazia, where a separatist dispute has threatened to escalate this year into a renewed war, has entered a phase of quiet diplomacy aimed at easing tensions and urging negotiations, officials on each side of the conflict said.
No agreement to negotiate has been reached, and the differences between the Abkhaz and Georgian governments remain vast. Each side cautions that an act of significant violence or other provocation could lead to war.
But this month, after Russia sent paratroopers and artillery across its borders to reinforce its peacekeeping contingent in the enclave, and as Georgian remotely piloted planes flew reconnaissance missions overhead, an American and a Georgian delegation traveled separately here to the Abkhaz capital to discuss the possibility of talks.
The dialogue appeared to reduce for the moment the risk of large-scale fighting and to create a chance to discuss confidence-building measures — even as military incidents continued along the contested zone.
On Wednesday, for example, as parliamentary elections were being held in Georgia, a firefight in the village of Kurcha destroyed two buses and wounded at least two civilians, Georgian officials said.
The diplomatic push seems also to have shifted some attention from tit-for-tat diplomatic and military escalations toward a recognition of the consequences of renewed war in the Caucasus, where two wars between Russian forces and Chechen separatists raged for most of a decade before subsiding in 2005.
Russia plans to host the Winter Olympics in 2014 in Sochi, about 15 miles from Abkhazia. A war near the city’s limits, which would almost certainly involve Russia, could threaten the Games on political and security grounds. And any sustained war could devastate Georgia, which is recovering from post-Soviet disorder but lacks the resources or military capacity to withstand a determined Russian attack.
The first delegation to Abkhazia, on May 10, was led by Matthew J. Bryza, an American deputy assistant secretary of state. The second, on May 11, was led by Irakli Alasania, Georgia’s representative to the United Nations.
Abkhaz officials have said the core of the dispute — Abkhazia’s insistence on independence — is not negotiable. But they hinted at possible economic cooperation and an agreement on the non-resumption of force. “The situation has come, I would say, to a red line,” said Sergei Shamba, Abkhazia’s foreign minister. “But our conversation with the Georgian representative, which I regard as private, reduced tensions.”
Abkhazia, a ribbon of sub-tropical and alpine territory on the Black Sea that once was a cherished vacation spot for the Soviet elite, lies within Georgia. It achieved de facto independence, and withering economic isolation, in a brief but ferocious war after Georgia’s effort to subdue the region by force in 1992.
The Abkhaz are a tiny ethnic group. They were initially routed by Georgian forces and subjected to what they call war crimes, including mass looting and the destruction of their homes. A special prosecutor’s office in Sukhumi says it has evidence of the killings of hundreds of civilians and dozens of rapes.
With help from Russia’s military and a confederation of fighters from the Caucasus who were sponsored by Russian intelligence agencies, the Abkhaz repelled Georgian troops in 1993.
Georgia contends that a retaliatory pogrom followed its army’s defeat, with hundreds of thousands of Georgians being chased from their homes in Abkhazia. Last week, the United Nations labeled the Abkhaz actions against Georgians a campaign of ethnic cleansing.
Since 1993, the conflict has devolved into a stalemate punctuated by occasional violence.
The tensions increased sharply in 2004, when President Mikheil Saakashvili of Georgia came to power. Mr. Saakashvili made national unification a centerpiece of his agenda, a position Abkhazia considers a prelude to war.
Tensions escalated further this year after Kosovo declared independence in February and was recognized by several Western nations. The Kremlin, which opposed an independent Kosovo, reacted by saying it would increase cooperation with Abkhazia and South Ossetia, another breakaway enclave in Georgia.
A season of brinkmanship has ensued, with each side accusing the other of massing forces, and Georgian drones on reconnaissance drawing fire from both the ground and from what Georgia said was a Russian fighter jet.
Russia has reinforced its peacekeepers, although their number and role remain in dispute. Russia and Abkhazia say that 2,500 Russian soldiers are in Abkhazia — well within the Commonwealth of Independent States peacekeeping mandate of up to 3,000 troops.
Georgian officials say that at least 3,500 Russians are in the conflict zone, as well as advisers who are surreptitiously training and leading Abkhaz units. Independent verification of these claims is not readily possible.
Each side insists that its troop movements have assured peace, and that the other’s have increased the risk of war. “We often hear that Russia’s actions destabilize the situation,” Mr. Shamba said. “This is not an objective assessment. We can say clearly that Russia’s tough actions stopped Georgia’s aggression.”
Abkhazia has also offered to allow Russia to station permanent forces at an Abkhaz air base in exchange for guarantees of protection. “Of course we dream of being a neutral state,” Mr. Shamba said. “Unfortunately we live in such a region where that is impossible.”
Georgia has been unwavering in its position that Abkhazia will be returned to Georgian control.
During Mr. Saakashvili’s presidency, Georgia has upgraded military equipment and intensified military training. It says it has 28,000 regular troops, including units that were trained by American marines and that have served in Afghanistan and Iraq. It also has private Israeli advisers.
Moreover, Mr. Saakashvili, who needs little urging to speak in populist tones, is ringed by young advisers, many of whom have taken a hard line. Although they say they do not want to resume fighting, they invariably add that Abkhazia must reintegrate with Georgia, or fighting might be inevitable.
At the center of the talks this month was a list of proposals by Mr. Saakashvili that would grant broad autonomy to Abkhazia in exchange for recognizing Georgian rule. These included constitutional changes and security guarantees that Georgia says would protect Abkhaz power, interests, language and culture.
Among them would be the creation of a Georgian vice presidency to be granted to an Abkhaz official, power-sharing arrangements to award Abkhazia control of some Georgian ministries and the merger of the Abkhaz and Georgian police and customs services. Abkhazia previously rejected the proposal. But Mr. Alasania said he focused on smaller steps that require no ideological concessions.
Daniel Fried, the United States assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian affairs, said in a telephone interview that after Mr. Alasania’s visit there appeared to be a chance to move beyond “the frankly moribund diplomatic process that we had been in for some time.”
www.nytimes.com/