Georgian president vows to reclaim 2 provinces

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Georgian president vows to regain control of 2 provinces; Russia shows no sign of retreating

STEVE GUTTERMAN
AP News

Sep 07, 2008 13:44 EST

On the eve of a European Union shuttle mission to convince Russia to pull its troops back to prewar positions, Georgia's president vowed Sunday to regain control of two breakaway provinces with the help of "the rest of the world."

A month after the Aug. 7 outbreak of war in the region and weeks after a cease-fire was approved, Russian troops remain entrenched deep inside Georgian territory.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy is due in Moscow on Monday at the head of an EU delegation charged with reducing tensions and ensuring Russian compliance with the cease-fire terms, which include withdrawing its troops to positions held before the fighting broke out. Russia says those troops are peacekeepers and that they are allowed under the accord.

Despite the presence of Russian troops on Georgian soil, President Mikhail Saakashvili said the West would help his country regain control of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, the separatist regions of Georgia recognized as independent nations by Moscow last month.

"Our territorial integrity will be restored, I am more convinced of this than ever," Saakashvili said in a televised appearance. "This will not be an easy process, but now this is a process between an irate Russia and the rest of the world."

"Our goal is the return of our territory and the peaceful unification of Georgia," he said.

In Moscow, Prime Minister Vladimir Putin, who often taunts the West, insisted in an interview broadcast late Saturday that Russia was justified in its intervention in South Ossetia. He said there would be no cooling of ties with the West because the West depends on Russia's oil, gas and mineral wealth.

The West has been reluctant to provoke Moscow, and French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner said the EU did not plan to impose sanctions against Russia.

http://www.dailytimes.com.pk/default.asp?page=2008%5C09%5C08%5Cstory_8-9-2008_pg4_2

Damage assessment : NATO experts visit Georgia today

* German chancellor hopes Sarkozy will help solve Russia crisis

TBILISI: A NATO delegation will travel to Georgia on Monday to evaluate damage to military infrastructure following a five-day war between Moscow and Tbilisi last month, diplomatic officials told AFP.

“A NATO mission is expected here tomorrow,” a European diplomatic official in Tbilisi told AFP on condition of anonymity. “It’s a mission to assess the military damage,” said a second diplomatic official. A NATO official confirmed to AFP the expected arrival of the delegation. NATO chief Jaap de Hoop Scheffer is due to travel to Georgia on September 15-16 along with representatives of all 26 member states for talks with Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili to discuss NATO assistance.

At an emergency meeting last month, NATO foreign ministers said it was impossible to continue “business as usual” with Russia because of the conflict, bringing a furious response from Russian officials. The ministers agreed to set up a NATO-Georgia commission and De Hoop Scheffer said 15 experts would be sent to assess the extent of the damage in Georgia, stressing the need for aid for refugees.

Crisis resolution: German Chancellor Angela Merkel is optimistic that French President Nicolas Sarkozy will on Monday make progress in his discussions with Russia about a peace plan with Georgia. “I have some hope that the French president will make a bit of progress in clearing up the six-point plan when he visits Moscow in his capacity as president of the EU,” Merkel told German radio.

Sarkozy is due to go to Moscow to verify whether Russia has fully adhered to the plan, brokered by France, to resolve the Russia-Georgia conflict. Merkel said she was heartened by Russia’s response to an agreement by EU leaders last week which avoided imposing sanctions on Moscow over its conflict with Georgia. The EU leaders did, however, threaten to delay talks with Russia on a new partnership pact if Moscow did not pull out its troops to pre-conflict positions from Georgia by mid-September.