KHANKALA. Aug 15 (Interfax-AVN) - Foreign mercenaries trained Chechen rebels in Georgia, a rebel taken prisoner recently told his interrogators.
"A member of the Khasan Ali gang, Ali Duriyev, detained by a special Defense Ministry unit in Chechnya's Itum-Kale district, said that a Pakistani named Khalil was his instructor," a spokesman for the unified federal headquarters told Interfax- Military News Agency on Thursday.
Rebel fighters are trained for about two years, chiefly by nationals of Muslim countries, Duriyev said. At the same time the number of foreign mercenaries is becoming smaller mainly due to financial problems.
During the investigation Duriyev considerably increased the amount of information obtained from earlier detained members of Khasan's guerrilla group that crossed into Russia from Georgia from late July to early August this year.
"In particular, Duriyev gave detailed evidence that many members of guerrilla groups are ready to give up their activities, return home or leave for Europe. However, rebel leaders do not let their subordinates located in the Pankisi gorge do anything else but join gangs heaving for Chechnya for staging subversive and terrorist acts," the spokesman said.
Earlier Duriyev pointed out the possible involvement of Georgian state bodies in the passing of Chechen guerrillas to Russia across the Georgian border. During his interrogation Duriyev said that when preparing to cross the state border guerrilla group leader Khasan met a Georgian in military uniform many times; the Georgian would show up at the base's stationing area and give professional instructions.
"The detainee does not rule out that the man had something to do with Georgian state bodies," a source in the unified federal headquarters told Interfax-AVN.
A spokesman for the headquarters confirmed the information. "It has been established that the above-mentioned instructor personally escorted the rebel group to the border, after which the guerrillas were assured that the passage to inland Russia was open for them," deputy commander of the unified federal group Colonel Boris Podoprigora told Interfax-AVN.
On Wednesday Georgian State Security Minister Valery Khaburdzania refuted statements of Russian military that Georgian officials had met Chechen extremists on the Russian-Georgian border. He said the statements were "absurd and provocative."