MOSCOW. Feb 27 (Interfax-AVN) - Alexander Gurov, head of the security committee in the State Duma lower house of Russian parliament, said on Wednesday that if reports on the arrival of U.S. special forces in Georgia would be confirmed the measure might be considered an unfriendly step of the Georgian leadership.
A confirmation of the reports will mean that "Georgia is developing a mistrust to Russia and going an increasingly unfriendly way," Gurov told Interfax-Military News Agency.
Anyway, "200 U.S. special force members will not be able to do anything in the Pankisi gorge for they have a different tactical approach," Gurov stressed.
According to him, the invitation of U.S. special forces units in Georgia is likely to have goals much different from establishment of order in the Pankisi gorge. "I believe that the step was made to strengthen positions of current Georgian President Eduard Shevardnadze. Otherwise, the United States are attempting to establish themselves in the region," Gurov stressed.
According to him, "it would be better if Russian special units carried out the operation" for they have huge experience in the sphere.
The Western mass media reported on Wednesday on possible arrival of the U.S. special units in Georgia with the mission to conduct an anti-terrorist operation in the Pankisi gorge near the Chechen strap of the Russian-Georgian border.
At the same time the Georgian Defense Ministry told Interfax that U.S. military advisors would arrive in Tbilisi in the near future to develop a special anti-terrorist program together with Georgian military.
The Washington Post reported on Wednesday that the United States was supplying helicopters to Georgia and would start training Georgian units to combat terrorism in the near future. The measures were taken because the U.S. and Georgian administrations believe that members of the Al-Qaeda terrorist network and Chechen Islamic organizations are hiding in northern Georgia.