STAVROPOL. Aug 6 (Interfax-AVN) - The press service of the North Caucasus regional border guard department said the rebels who were detained in Georgia have no ties with Khasan's group, which was destroyed in the Kerigo Gorge in Chechnya's Itum-Kale district.
"On Monday, the media showed footage of the Chechen rebels detained by Georgian border guards. One of the rebels argued that he had not been on Georgian territory before and had to come there due to the danger of being killed by Russian border guards. However, according to reliable information, the detained rebels have no connection with the rebel group led by field commander Khasan, which was destroyed in the Kerigo Gorge," the press service said in a statement.
The document noted that "in fact, this is one of a small number of groups led by field commander Ruslan Gelayev, which was sent to the Russia-Georgia border in July 2002, in order to infiltrate into Russia."
The press service said "the detained rebels did not cross the Russia-Georgia border, but were returning to the Pankisi Gorge from the place they had chosen to cross from into Russia."
The press service noted that "Gelayev's rebels wanted to check the vigilance of Russian border guards by sending some illegal armed formations, which crossed from Georgia on July 27. These groups are likely to have been on a reconnaissance mission. After this, the group was to ensure the crossing of Gelayev's entire group into Russia."
"The border guard command has repeatedly provided relevant information to its Georgian counterparts. The last information was provided on August 3, 2002, in a telegram Colonel General Yevgeny Bolkhovitin, head of the North Caucasus regional border guard department, sent to Karneli Saliya, acting chief-of-staff of the Georgian state border guard department," the statement said.