Tuesday, August 19, 2008

NATO Ministerial on Georgian-Russian Confrontation

The NATO ministerial session is over in Bruselss. The foreign ministers of NATO member states set the special committee dealing with the future Georgian-NATO and Russian-NATO relations. The communique of the session set the existing NATO-Russian relations for a serious reconsiderations and stressed the neccessity of assistance to Georgia. NATO will launch special negotiations with Georgia for setting the future plan of collaboration, as well as will add to the minitoring process of the ceasefire agreement between Russia and Georgia.
Ministerial re-confirmed NATO's support to Georgia's territorial integrity, further stressing that NATO will assisst to Georgia in recovery after the war. NATO ministerial pointed to Russia on re-considerations of its policy towards Georgia as long as the current situation will affect not only on NATO-Russian, but it will also significantly influence on Russia-EU relations as well.

Former War Prisoners are in Tbilisi

Georgian soldiers are placed at Gudushauri Hospital for medical check-up and further treatment.

Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan Pipeline Demaged

Oil flow through the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan pipeline was cut Wednesday after an explosion sparked a fire in a section in eastern Turkey. The foreign news agencies released comments of Refahiye sub-governor Mehmet Makas who `ruled out the possibility of a sabotage, saying that a fault in the system had been detected before the blast`. As said, the incident occurred around midnight in a pump at a section near the eastern town of Refahiye, in Erzincan province.

NATO will discuss the Case of Georgia

NATO ministerial is gathered in Belgium for emergency meeting over the crisis between Russia and Georgia, with U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice as a special guest. The case is that the deadline for Russian troops to withdraw from Georgia has come and gone, leaving NATO frustrated and worried. Rice arrived at NATO headquarters Tuesday a day after saying that Moscow was playing `a dangerous game` by re-asserting its power across the border. NATO ministers are expected to discuss what the alliance can do to support Georgia and `deny Russia's strategic objectives,` Rice stressed.

Poti Terminal is Robbed

Russian soldiers have robbed Poti Terminal. They took away humanitarian aid designated for IDPs and vehicles imported from abroad. They have also taken away Georgian soldiers whom they arrested earlier today. With their eyes bound, Georgians were arguably taken towards Zugdidi. The tanks loaded with humanitarian aid have also left the territory of the terminal. The terminal was recently renovated according to the western standards. As the representative of the government declared, the case was made not only against the Georgian government and state, but against the private companies, investing in the terminal.

Patriot Camp Burnt in Ganmukhuri

Russian soldiers have completely burnt the patriots' camp located in the village of Ganmukhuri, bordering the separatist region of Abkhazia. Russian offenders entered the territory of the camp last night with two trucks and two tanks and light fire to the cottages of the pupils.
They poured pertol on the cottages and then lit fire. Before that they collected the inventory of the camp at one place and burnt it too. At the moment Russian 43-rd army is stationed in Ganmukhuri. The local governor visited the place of accident, declaring that Russians once again have showen brutal face and gave a promise to rebuild the camp immediately.

Presense of Russian Military Protested

The population of the town of Senaki, Samegrelo Region, demonstrated against the Russian army, demanding urgent pullout of Russian troops from Samegrelo Region. The protestors assembled outside the hotel Egrisi. The territory is protected by Georgian policemen, securing the demonstrators.
Despite the assertion of the Russian president that Russian troops would be pulled out from Georgia until today, Russians remain in Samegrelo, plundering the senaki military base. 30 trucks loaded with arms and other military equipment have already went to the Abkhazia conflict zone. They are loading 40 other trucks. In addition, they are mining the aerodrome of the base.

Prisoners' Deal was Made

On August 19, 2008 the exchange of the Georgian-Russian War prisoners took place at Igoeti, on a halfway between the town of Gori and Tbilisi. The principle set by the Georgian side – all to all – was respected by the Russian side. Former Georgian war prisoners declare they were treated awfully, tortured and miss respected by the South Ossetian separatist formations and Russian militaries. Georgian soldiers were transported by the emergency cars under the supervision of doctors. Georgian side handed over those soldiers, arrested after the crash of the Russian military jets near the city Gori.
The Chancellor of the State Security Committee Alexandre Lomaia re-confirmed the readiness of the government of Georgia to open the process of exchange of the Russian-Georgian war prisoners. According to him, the nominees for the working group were already listed from both sides and pointed to the neccessity of adhering the principle all-in-all. The vice minister of defence Batu Qutelia declared that the Russian side offered the non-accurate list of the war prisoners and the real figure of the Russian prisoners is considerably less. As Qutelia stressed, Moscow tries to manipulate with the issue, as long as it enables her to delay the process of withdrawal of the Russian occupational forces from the territory of Georgia.

Exchange of War Prisoners

Exchange of the Georgian-Russian war prisoners will take place later today. As the Chencellor of the State Security Committee Alexandre Lomaia stressed, Georgians are ready for the process and the principle all-in-all will be strongly followed. According to him, the trusted personalities from both sides are already figured and the working process will be opened in subsequent hours.