The Hindu : U.S. launches anti-terror training in Georgia

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, May 01, 2002

International

International

U.S. launches anti-terror training in Georgia

TBILISI (Georgia) APRIL 30. U.S. special operations forces have landed in the former Soviet republic of Georgia to launch a programme to train Georgian troops in anti-terrorism tactics, U.S. and Georgian officials said on Tuesday.

Eighteen Americans arrived overnight in the Georgian capital Tbilisi, the Georgian Defence Minister, David Tevzadze, told reporters. The $64 million training programme is part of the worldwide campaign against terrorism, and is similar to U.S. anti-terrorist training for forces in the Philippines. "We are initial representatives for the initial set-up operation,'' said Doug Baker, who arrived overnight in the capital and spent Tuesday in meetings in the U.S. Embassy.

Mr. Tevzadze said about 150 special operations forces would be arriving in the coming weeks. He said "everything is going according to plan," but gave no other details. Mr. Tevzadze left later on Tuesday for a previously scheduled visit to the United States.

U.S. officials say Muslim fighters in Georgia's Pankisi Gorge — which borders the breakaway Russian region of Chechnya — could be linked to Osama bin Laden's Al-Qaeda terrorist network. Russian and Georgian officials say militants from Chechnya have holed up in the remote and rugged region.

The U.S. troops will teach military tactics to Georgian soldiers and officials. The first classes should begin in about a month, a Pentagon spokesman, Tim Blair, said in Washington. The U.S. troops are to be based in the capital Tbilisi and were to hold meetings with Georgian Defence Ministry officials over the next week to set up the training programme, according to the U.S. Embassy in Tbilisi.

The United States also will give the Georgian military guns, ammunition, communications gear, medical equipment, fuel and construction equipment. The Americans will train two infantry units and a special forces battalion, Georgian Defence Ministry officials said. On Monday, Georgian national television reported that three Arabs were apprehended in a special police operation in the Pankisi Gorge. The report said guards at a nearby hydroelectric station were shot at hours later, and a relative of one of the three seized Arabs was wounded in the return fire.

Georgia had asked the United States for help battling the insurgents in the Pankisi Gorge. Many Russian officials have expressed anger over the plans, saying the Russian military could roust the rebels from the gorge with Georgia's help.

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