Announcement

Collapse
No announcement yet.

Tbilisi Neutralizes Alleged Russian Spy Ring, Gains Political Mileag

Collapse
X
 
  • Filter
  • Time
  • Show
Clear All
new posts

  • Tbilisi Neutralizes Alleged Russian Spy Ring, Gains Political Mileag

    TBILISI NEUTRALIZES ALLEGED RUSSIAN SPY RING, GAINS POLITICAL MILEAGE
    By Zaal Anjaparidze

    Eurasia Daily Monitor, DC
    Oct 2 2006

    Georgian President President Mikheil Saakashvili The arrest of four
    Russian military intelligence officers and eleven alleged accomplices
    in Georgia on September 27-28 is part of Tbilisi's ongoing efforts
    to neutralize a purported Russian spy network in Georgia. Two
    weeks earlier, on September 6, Tbilisi claimed to have averted a
    coup by arresting dozens of Russia-financed, pro-Moscow activists
    who reportedly were plotting to remove the government of President
    Mikheil Saakashvili by force (see EDM, September 14). In March, after
    the arrest of the alleged Russian mole Simon Kiladze, an employee of
    the presidential administration, Saakashvili publicly guaranteed the
    safety of any Georgians collaborating with foreign intelligence who
    would give themselves up before May 1 (see EDM, March 31).

    The Russian officers and Georgian citizens are being held on charges
    of espionage, while the Georgian citizens also stand accused of high
    treason. Georgian law enforcement provided evidence in the form of
    recorded telephone conversations between the detainees and video
    footage made by a hidden camera showing one of the Russians handing
    over money to an undercover Georgian agent (www.police.ge).

    Georgian Interior Minister Vano Merabishvili told a news conference
    on September 27 that for "months and years" the arrested military
    intelligence (GRU) operatives and their Georgian collaborators had
    been gathering sensitive economic, political, and military information,
    including developments in Georgia-NATO relations.

    Merabishvili said the group was planning "serious provocations," but
    he did not provide details (TV-Rustavi-2, September 27). According
    to him, GRU Colonel Anatoly Sinitsin directed the group from Yerevan,
    the capital of Armenia. In fact, most of the Georgian citizens under
    arrest are ethnic Armenians.

    On September 29, a Tbilisi court sentenced the four Russian officers
    -- Lieutenant-Colonel Alexander Savva, Lt. Col. Dimitry Kazantsev,
    Lt. Col. Alexei Zavgorodny, and Major Alexander Baranov -- to two
    months in pre-trial detention. Ten of the Georgian citizens were also
    remanded to custody. On September 29, videotaped confessions surfaced
    showing five of the arrested Georgian citizens admitting to cooperating
    with Russian intelligence. The court session was closed to the media
    until the sentencing phase, because the Russian officers reportedly
    had planned to make a statement for the press. None of the Russians
    pleaded guilty, and they dismissed their arrests as "provocations."

    The incident has escalated the already tense relations between the two
    countries. Russia recalled its ambassador from Tbilisi and evacuated
    most of its embassy staff and their families. Givi Targamadze,
    chair of Georgian parliament's committee on defense and security,
    assumed that several key intelligence officers slipped out with the
    evacuees (Resonansi, September 29). Russian officials have responded
    with bellicose statements and hold a number of retaliatory options,
    including reprisals against the sizeable Georgian diaspora and labor
    migrants in Russia, financial sanctions, energy cuts, and ties with
    the secessionist factions in Abkhazia and South Ossetia (Ekho Moskvy,
    September 29). On September 30, Russia halted the scheduled withdrawal
    of its troops from Georgia.

    Yesterday, October 1, Russian President Vladimir Putin accused Tbilisi
    of provoking Russia. He said that even with support from foreign
    sponsors, Saakashvili's government cannot feel "comfortable and
    secured." Nevertheless, Putin instructed the military to resume the
    scheduled Russian troop drawdown. Putin suggested that Saakashvili's
    policies might lead to troublesome results in the long-run (Strana.ru,
    Vesti, October 1-2).

    Most Georgian pundits brushed away dire predictions about Moscow's
    response, arguing that increased international support for Georgia will
    discourage tough Russian measures. Some pundits, however, warned that
    Russian dominance in the Georgian energy sector might create problems
    (TV-Imedi, September 28-29; Resonansi, September 29; Prime News,
    September 30).

    Saakashvili's government has given the spy row wide publicity,
    which has been picked up by the international media. On September
    29, Saakashvili stated that Georgia's actions deserved "overwhelming
    approval" and "understanding" from the international community.

    "Georgia has never been as protected as it is nowadays," Merabishvili
    added, alluding to the international support (TV-Rustavi-2, September
    29). Some Georgian media even speculated that the United States was
    behind the arrests of the Russian officers, and suggested they might be
    exchanged for U.S. or British intelligence officers arrested in Moscow
    (Alia, September 28). Georgian Defense Minister Irakli Okruashvili
    and other officials hinted that, as a gesture of goodwill, Tbilisi
    might repatriate the GRU officers to Russia after a guilty verdict
    (TV-Imedi, September 29).

    Indeed, Georgian sources report, with reference to AP and Reuters,
    that Georgia might hand over the Russian officers to the OSCE
    Chairman-in-office, Belgian Foreign Minister Karel De Gucht who
    is arriving in Tbilisi today and is expected to have a joint news
    conference with Saakashvili.

    The spy row has left Saakashvili's opposition no other choice to
    demonstrate, although cautiously, solidarity to the authorities. The
    New Rights and Georgia's Way parties stated that government must think
    about the fate of Georgians living in Russia and cautioned against
    excessively provoking Moscow (TV-Imedi, Civil Georgia, September
    29). On October 1, the opposition Republican and Conservative parties
    called on all political groups to rally outside the Russian Embassy
    on Wednesday, October 4, to demonstrate a united front against the
    Russian threat (TV-Rustavi-2, October 1).

    Once portrayed as feeble and corrupt, the Georgian special services
    now appear to have transformed thanks to increased cooperation
    with Western colleagues. Okruashvili and Merabishvili said that
    several other Russia-guided spy groups are operating in Georgia and
    that domestic traitors pose even higher threat than foreign spies
    (TV-Imedi, TV-Rustavi-2, September 29). Merabishvili also noted that
    there are still many people in Georgia who have been "accustomed to
    openly collaborating with foreign special services for many years."
Working...
X