SUKHUMI. Feb 17 (Interfax-AVN) - The Abkhaz authorities are ready to cooperate with Russian law-enforcement agencies in order to prove that there are no Wahhabis on the republic's territory, Abkhaz Vice-President Valery Arshba said on Monday.
"There are no Wahhabis in the republic, but if it is necessary, Sukhumi is ready too cooperate with law-enforcement agencies of Russia and other states to check any areas that can arouse suspicion," Arshba told Interfax-Military News Agency.
"Tbilisi should cope with Wahhabis in the Pankisi Gorge before accusing Abkhazia of anything," he said.
Georgia "does not provide any specific indication of Wahhabis' possible whereabouts on the Abkhaz territory," the vice- president added.
Georgian State Security Minister Valery Khaburdzania told an expanded session of the country's government on February 15 that Wahhabis moved from the Pankisi Gorge to Abkhazia. "Very soon, Russia will face the same threat there that Moscow saw in the Pankisi Gorge," he said.