GEORGIA: Russia's army chief warned last night that Georgia faced the prospect of "civil war" after voting to oust Moscow's peacekeepers from the breakaway province of South Ossetia.
Chief of staff Gen Yury Baluyevsky made his comments after emergency talks in Moscow failed to ease tensions between Georgia and Russia over the disputed region. "If the peacekeepers go, then civil war can come," he said.
The warning follows the vote of Georgia's parliament on Wednesday, by 180 to zero, to demand the removal of Russian peacekeepers from South Ossetia and a second breakaway Georgian republic, Abkhazia.
Both provinces declared independence and fought civil wars with Georgia in 1992. Truces, backed by Russian peacekeepers, have been in force ever since, but talks aimed at permanent settlements have repeatedly stalled.
Georgian president Mikhael Saakashvili insists the provinces must return to the fold, and MPs have accused Russia of siding with the rebels by guaranteeing their security. Last week, Georgian police and Russian troops fought fist-fights on the confrontation line and three Russian soldiers were briefly arrested, triggering outrage from Moscow.
"Facts are being ignored, distorted and altered," said Russian foreign minister Sergei Lavrov. "In violation of all existing agreements, our peacekeepers regularly face provocations."
Yesterday the government of Abkhazia said it was reinforcing border units and accused Georgia of planning an attack. The fear in Moscow is one of these confrontations will lead to bloodshed.
Moscow's dispute with Georgia dates from 2003 when a pro-western government took power in an election dubbed the "Rose Revolution." President Saakashvili has since cut ties with Russia and opened talks on joining Nato. Moscow has complained that Chechen rebels are allowed to operate "safe bases" inside Georgian territory.
In January, simmering tensions exploded in a dispute over Russian gas deliveries.
Two pipelines carrying gas over the Russian border were dynamited, plunging Georgia into a heating crisis. Georgia blamed Russian forces for the bombs, which Moscow said were the work of local rebel forces.
Earlier this month, Georgia pulled out of a defence organisation made up of former Soviet states. Georgian officials say they want an international force to replace the Russian peacekeepers, but they also insist that these provinces must eventually be reintegrated with Georgia.
The Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe is monitoring the region and is reportedly ready to mediate.
Diplomats in Moscow say Georgia has been fortified in its defiance of Russia by strong support from the United States.
For the United States, Georgia is an important strategic stepping-stone linking pipelines from Turkey through to Azerbaijan and the huge new gas and oil fields in the Caspian Sea and central Asia.