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Russian police officers are reflected on a broken
window at the Georgian embassy after a protester threw a stone at the
building in Moscow September 29, 2006. (Xinhua/Reuters
Photo)
Photo Gallery
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Russian police officers are reflected on a broken
window at the Georgian embassy after a protester threw a stone at the
building in Moscow September 29, 2006. (Xinhua/Reuters Photo)
Photo Gallery
>>> |
MOSCOW, Sept. 30 (Xinhua) -- Russia has suspended its planned withdrawal of
troops from the South Caucasus, a military chief said in the southern city of
Rostov-on-Don on Saturday.
"This concerns the security of their passage. Why
should we run ahead of the engine that they have placed across our path?" North
Caucasus Military District Commander Alexander Baranov was quoted by the
Interfax news agency as saying.
Russia inherited four military bases in Georgia from
the former Soviet Union and has withdrawn from two of them.
Russia and Georgia signed an agreement in late March
that set out the deadline and details of the pullout of Russian military bases
from Georgia.
Under the accord, the two sides agreed to complete
the phased withdrawal of the Russian bases and other military installations in
Georgia by the end of 2008.
Georgian security forces detained five Russian
officers on Wednesday, which triggered strong protests from Moscow.
The Georgian Interior Ministry confirmed the release
of a Russian serviceman earlier on Friday and the city court of the Georgian
capital Tbilisi ordered to keep the other four accused in custody for two months
on charges of espionage.
Russian Ambassador to Georgia Vyacheslav Kovalenko
was recalled on Thursday and went back to Moscow on Friday.
The Itar-Tass news agency quoted the senior diplomat
of the Russian embassy in Georgia, Ivan Volynkin, as saying that almost all the
personnel of the Russian embassy in Georgia will be evacuated to Moscow on
Saturday. Only two diplomats and two embassy guards will remain in Georgia.
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