TBILISI. Oct 25 (Interfax-AVN) - Chechen refugees living in Georgia's Pankisi Gorge are planning to seek shelter on the territory of third countries.
"Chechen refugees and representatives of the UN High Commissioner for Refugees are holding a meeting in the Duisi village of the Pankisi gorge to discuss possibilities of refugees' relocation to third countries," Zurab Tushuri, police chief of the Kakheti district, told Interfax-Military News Agency on Friday.
"There have been no trustworthy data regarding how many of the 4,000 refugees officially registered in Georgia are willing to leave our territory and seek shelter in third countries," he said. hostage-taking drama] have caused serious concern among the refugees, for they are afraid that the Russian party will take some measures against the refugees living in Pankisi."
"Refugees believe that the Russian authorities are sure that Movsar Barayev's gang that took hostages in a Moscow theater had got ready for the terrorist act in the Pankisi Gorge," the police chief said.
"Suppositions that the Chechen rebel gang got ready for the terrorist act in Pankisi are groundless, as neither Movsar Barayev nor his gang have ever been based in Georgia's Pankisi Gorge," Tushuri stressed.
Sources in the Russian Federal Security Service, Interior Ministry and other law-enforcement agencies told Interfax-AVN that "refugees in Pankisi should not be afraid of anything, as nobody is planning to take punitive measures against them."
"If we get some confirmation of the supposition that Movsar Barayev's gang got prepared in Pankisi, the Russian authorities will act in compliance with international laws and national legislation," a high ranking official of the Federal Security Service told Interfax-AVN.