TBILISI. Jan 30 (Interfax-AVN) - Russian and Georgian special services will carry out joint operations in the the Pankisi Gorge, Georgian National Security Secretary Nugzar Sadhaya has announced.
In reply to a question from Interfax after talks with Russian Security Council Secretary Vladimir Rushailo in Tbilisi on Wednesday, Sadzhaya noted that Georgia "does not deny that among the refugees in the Pankisi Gorge are people who were involved in combat actions" against federal forces in Chechnya.
He said Georgian President Eduard Shevardnadze gave definite instructions to conduct preventive operations in the area. "Instructions were given to actively cooperate with the Russian special services," he said.
Sadzhaya was confident that as a result of joint efforts order would be restored in the Pankisi Gorge and in Akhmeta district in general, "this is in the interests of Russia as well as Georgia."
Rushailo in turn said that the security agencies of the two countries "have arranged to interact and these agencies will conduct and are already conducting joint actions there."
Sadzhaya also said that the Russian and Georgian commissions will soon look into the bombing of the gorge by unidentified aircraft. "The matter will be clarified shortly," he said.
Asked about the presence of Russian peacekeepers in the Georgian-Abkhaz conflict zone Rushailo stressed that their presence "has a stabilizing effect" and will prevent the sides in the conflict from resorting to hostilities again.
He stressed that the decision to prolong the presence of peacekeepers or to change their mandate is a prerogative of the presidents of Russia and Georgia and that such decisions will be approved at the upcoming CIS summit in Almaty.
Rushailo categorically denied reports that Russia intends to consider the admission of Abkhazia. "The question has not been discussed or considered in any format," he said. He said that Russia supports the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Georgia.
On Wednesday Rushailo and Sadzhaya signed a cooperation agreement between the Security Councils of the two countries. The agreement names among the priorities of interaction resistance to international terrorism, organized crime, drug trafficking, illegal financial transactions and maintenance of international peace and security.