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Rumsfeld Calls For Russian Forces To Quit Georgia
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Rumsfeld called for Russia to withdraw its troops in Georgia
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TBILISI,
December 5 (IslamOnline.net & News Agencies) – U.S. Defense
Secretary Donald Rumsfeld Friday, December 5,called for Russia to
withdraw its troops in Georgia after he arrived to show support for the
strategic nation's new leaders less than two weeks after they took
power.
"Russia
should fulfill its commitments under the Istanbul accords to withdraw
Russian forces from Georgia," Rumsfeld said at a press conference
after meeting with interim President Nino Burjanadze, reported Agence
France-Presse (AFP).
"That
has been the interest and desire of the government of Georgia," he
said.
On
November 27, former Georgian President Eduard Shevardnadze who was
forced to resign two weeks ago, regretted Washington’s betrayal in
helping oust him despite his support to American foreign policy,
particularly on Iraq.
Under
accords reached in Istanbul in 1999, Russia agreed to close two of its
bases in Georgia by 2001 and begin talks on pulling out from two others.
Negotiations of the withdrawal from the last two bases have been ongoing
for the past three years.
Russia
still has some 3,000 troops in Georgia that are covered by the agreement
and Russian military leaders have said it would be at least another
decade before they are withdrawn.
Rumsfeld
is the first senior U.S. official to visit the Caucasus nation since
Shevardnadze was forced from power after mass protests over a
parliamentary election that the opposition said were rigged in
government's favor.
His
visit comes at a time when Moscow and Washington have renewed their Cold
War-style rivalry for influence over Georgia, a country seen in the West
as a crucial gateway for the export of oil from the nearby Caspian Sea
to world markets.
The
battle for influence has gained urgency since Shevardnadze resigned and
a young, pro-Western leadership replaced him.
Russia
has hinted that Tbilisi would be wise to restore its relations with
Moscow following the resignation and hosted leaders of Georgia's two
separatist and one semi-autonomous regions, prompting warnings from U.S.
officials.
On
Tuesday, December 2, U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell warned Russia
at a meeting of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe
(OSCE) against supporting "breakaway elements seeking to weaken the
territorial integrity of Georgia."
Burjanadze,
speaking at Rumsfeld's side Friday, also brought up the concerns.
"We
appreciate the position of President Putin, who has clearly said on many
occasions that Russia supports Georgia's territorial integrity,"
she said.
"But
there are very powerful forces in Russia which support separatist
regions and this complicates the situation in Georgia."
And
she made clear that Georgia would continue looking westward.
"The
U.S. remains a strategic partner for us and our bid for NATO membership
is of vital importance," she said.
Rumsfeld,
for his part, said: "And certainly we stand ready to assist Georgia
in the period ahead."
Rumsfeld
was due to meet later with Mikhail Saakashvili, the young U.S.-educated
lawyer who spearheaded the protests that drove his former mentor
Shevardnadze from power and is the favorite candidate in the
Presidential election due January 4 of next year.
Tight
Security
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"The U.S. remains a strategic partner for us,” Burjanadze
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Security
in the Georgian capital was tightened for Rumsfeld's visit following a
series of explosions in Tbilisi over the past 10 days, which raised
fears that last month's peaceful change of power could disintegrate into
a violent counter-revolution.
In
Tbilisi over the past two weeks, bombs have gone off outside the state
television station and the offices of an opposition party and a former
Shevardnadze ally was the target of a botched assassination attempt.
Rumsfeld
was also due to stop at a military training center, which is a symbol of
the close security ties the United States forged with Georgia under
Shevardnadze.
Georgia
has strategic importance because a pipeline linking Azeri oil fields to
a Turkish port on the Mediterranean runs through it.
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