Georgia Frees Accused Spies, But Feud with Moscow Continues

In a surprise move, Georgia on October 2 released four Russian officers arrested for espionage, and agreed to the inclusion of Russian peacekeepers in international monitoring of the Kodori Gorge, a strip of Georgian-controlled territory in the breakaway region of Abkhazia.

Despite earlier contrary statements by Russian military officials, Russian President Vladimir Putin has also confirmed that Russia's troop withdrawal from Georgia will continue as planned. Nonetheless, Moscow's response to the arrests does not promise to soften. The Kremlin has announced the suspension of all transportation and postal ties with Georgia, while the Russian Duma has announced plans to stop money transfers "to certain countries."

In a televised ceremony late in the afternoon on October 2 at the General Prosecutor's Office, Georgia handed over the four Russian officers recently arrested on espionage charges to the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE). The officers, escorted by police, were transported in OSCE cars to Tbilisi's airport, where a plane from the Russian Ministry of Emergency Situations flew them to Moscow. The decision to hand the officers over occurred after talks between Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili and OSCE Chairman-in-Office Karel De Gucht, who flew to Tbilisi on October 2 to discuss the spy crisis with the Georgian leader.

Commenting on the decision to reporters, President Saakashvili stressed that the handover represented "a good gesture towards Georgia's Western friends," but not a reaction to perceived Russian threats. According to the president, the Georgian side has also handed over to the OSCE evidence in its case against the arrested officers.

Four Russian officers and 11 Georgian citizens were arrested on September 27 and charged with espionage. On September 29, the Tbilisi City Court ordered the officers to remain in pre-trial detention. The Georgian prisoners remain in custody. A greatly reduced police presence was continuing in front of the Russian military headquarters, where the Georgian government alleges a fifth espionage suspect is hiding.

What the handover means for this officer remains unclear. A representative of the Georgian Interior Ministry's press office stated that the government believes that the officer, identified as Lt Col. Konstantin Pichugin, is still on Georgian territory, but did not choose to make an official statement "because of the handover of the spies to the OSCE." Russian officials have denied the government's claims, and have stated that Pichugin is in "a safe location."

Prior to the release, the Russian Ministry of Transportation stated that it had stopped all air, rail, car, and sea traffic with Georgia. According to the Russian news agency RIA Novosti, the ministry also announced on October 2 that postal communications between Russia and Georgia would be suspended.

Meanwhile, in the Duma, proposed amendments to existing legislation would end all money transfers "to certain countries" in emergency situations. "The Duma must react to this situation," Duma Speaker Boris Gryzlov said, RIA Novosti reported. He added that "$350 million was officially sent [by Georgian labor migrants] from Russia; according to non-official data, this amount amounts to over $1 billion." A vote is expected on October 4.

The thousands of Georgians who work in Russia as seasonal laborers could also come under scrutiny. Thirteen Georgian citizens, including children, have been arrested in Moscow for allegedly working illegally in Russia, Rustavi-2 reported Georgian Consul in Moscow Zurab Pataradze as saying. The Georgian Embassy in Moscow has reported that deportation proceedings against the 13 detainees are in progress.

Georgian politicians reacted to the news of Russia's transportation and postal services ban as fresh proof of a Russian strategy to pressure Georgia into letting Moscow have its own way.

"By acting this way, Russia intends to make Georgia do what Russia wants," David Kirkitadze, a parliamentarian from the ruling National Movement Party, stated at a news briefing. "Russia wants us to refuse to restore Georgia's territorial integrity," he said in reference to the breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia which the Saakashvili administration wants to recover.

One key concession, however, appears to have been made by Tbilisi with the announcement of the government's decision to no longer oppose the inclusion of Russian peacekeepers among an international peacekeeping contingent that would monitor the situation in the Kodori Gorge. Late on October 2, the office of Georgia's State Minister for Conflict Resolution Issues released a statement that said that Tbilisi had agreed to accept Russian peacekeepers as part of any international peacekeeping force, after "taking into account the opinions of the international community and the parties involved," English-language excerpts published on the Civil Georgia news bulletin site read. Responses from Moscow and the de facto Abkhazian leadership have not yet been made public.

Throughout the crisis, the issue of Georgia's relations with the breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia has continued to simmer. On October 2, both Sergei Bagapsh, the de facto president of Abkhazia, and de facto South Ossetian leader Eduard Kokoity announced that they would withdraw from peace talks with the Georgians. The press service of the de-facto Abkhazian leader issued a statement saying that the Georgian side is violating existing peace agreements by keeping troops in the Kodori Gorge, while South Ossetia's Eduard Kokoity claimed that Georgia has not responded to South Ossetian proposals to hold peace talks in the South Ossetian capital of Tskhinvali, RIA Novosti reported.

Both Bagapsh and Kokoity took part on September 29 in a round table discussion on economic development in southern Russia chaired by Russian President Vladimir Putin, who met separately with Bagapsh to discuss the conflict with Georgia over Abkhazia, news reports stated. The Russian president's official website listed both de-facto leaders as the "presidents" of states neighboring Russia.

In response to the meeting, the Georgian Foreign Ministry issued a statement that argued that Russia had shown "once again" that it "is not and cannot be an unbiased and impartial mediator in the process of settlement of conflicts in Georgia. This once again confirms the need for an immediate change in the existing formats of the negotiating process and the peacekeeping operation."

Meanwhile, Russian officials maintain that their security concerns continue. On September 30, the Russian embassy evacuated all remaining staff and their families from Tbilisi except for two diplomats and a security guard detail.

The commander of Russian troops in Georgia, Andrei Popov, also announced on October 1 that special buses would be used to transport the children of Russian servicemen in Georgia to school to prevent the students' arrest as spies. "Of course. Why not? They certainly could," Popov told Georgian Public Television when asked to confirm his worry that Georgian law enforcement would arrest the children.

In keeping with that tact, Russian President Vladimir Putin has accused Georgia of using Stalinist techniques in its arrest of the four officers for espionage, describing the act as "state terrorism with hostage-taking."

"It is a sign of the heritage of Lavrenti Pavlovich Beria [a notorious ethnic Georgian chief of the Soviet secret police under Joseph Stalin] both inside of the country and in the international arena," Putin said in an October 1 meeting with the Russian Security Council, Russian news agencies reported.

"It is absolutely clear that there are attempts to pinch Russia as painfully as possible, to provoke it. This should be obvious to everyone," Putin continued in reference to the spy dispute with Georgia. "These people think that they can feel comfortable and secure under the roof of their foreign sponsors."

In an apparent attempt to show that Moscow cannot be provoked, Putin also stated that the troop withdrawal from Russian bases in the Georgian towns of Akhalkalaki, Batumi and Russian forces' headquarters in Tbilisi would continue. On Saturday, September 20, the Russian commander for the North Caucasus, General Alexander Baranov, had announced that the withdrawal would be suspended. All three military installations were also placed on high alert, according to Russian news agencies.

Responding to Putin's charges, President Saakashvili argued that the Russian leader had overreacted.
"I don't think this is serious