MOSCOW. July 5 (Interfax) - The South Ossetian president has denied allegations by Georgian authorities that Russian peacekeepers were engaged in the arms trade.
"The Georgian authorities' accusations that a consignment of weapons detained outside Tbilisi on June 17 had been shipped from South Ossetia are groundless. Even the suspects arrested in connection with this case denied them," South Ossetian President Eduard Kokoity told Interfax-Military News Agency a news conference in the Interfax main office on Friday.
On June 17 the Georgian road police detained on the outskirts of Tbilisi a vehicle that carried the Fagot anti-tank missile systems, anti-tank missiles as well as anti-tank grenade launchers. The arms were convoyed by Major Simon Mchedlidze, office of the Georgian State Security Ministry, and Russian citizen Artur Lyudkov. The Georgian authorities accused them of illegal arms smuggling from South Ossetia. At the same time Georgian officials stressed that neither the Georgian army nor South Ossetian units have information on those types of armament.
"The suspects told investigators that they had departed from the village of Nikozi, which is outside South Ossetian jurisdiction," Kokoity said.
"If Georgia is unable to control its own territory, our republic's leadership is prepared to help it and take control over possible routes of arms transit," he said.