Georgian leader criticises Russian peacekeepers
Source: Reuters
By Margarita Antidze TBILISI, March 15 (Reuters) - Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili on Thursday criticised the Russian peacekeeping effort in his country's breakaway regions, Abkhazia and South Ossetia, effectively saying Russian troops should leave. Saakashvili's attack on the Russian peacekeepers, that followed a call last year by the Georgian parliament for them to be withdrawn, was the latest exchange between the two countries that are at each other's throats over several issues. "The current peacekeeping format is discredited and ineffective and everybody understands that its preservation in the current form is impossible," Saakashvili told parliament in an annual address. Tbilisi accuses Moscow of stirring tensions in the two rebel regions, home to "frozen conflicts" dating back to the collapse of the Soviet Union. However Russia views the troops as key to preventing a resurgence of the armed conflict that plagued the regions in the early 1990s. Abkhazia and South Ossetia do not want the troops to leave either, seeing them as defence against an attack by Georgia. Georgia, a former Soviet republic, has increasingly sought to disassociate itself from Moscow after a peaceful revolution in 2003 brought the Western-leaning Saakashvili to power. "We are extending the hand of friendship to our Abkhaz and Ossetian compatriots again. We are ready to offer wide autonomy rights to them, based on international standards," he said. Georgia wants the West to be more involved in resolving the conflict, Saakashvili added, speaking just days after a helicopter attacked a disputed gorge under Tbilisi's control. Georgian officials say three Russian helicopters fired late on Sunday at the Kodori gorge in Abkhazia, long a flashpoint for tensions between Moscow and Tbilisi. Russia's air force denied any attacks and said all its aircraft near the area were grounded over the weekend.
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