Russian general denies reports he was detained in Georgia – 1
X-Sender: Asbed Bedrossian <[email protected]>
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19/05/2006 19:14
TBILISI, May 19 (RIA Novosti) – General Valery Yevnevich, a deputy chief
commander of Russia’s land troops, played down speculation Friday that he had
been detained by Georgian military police earlier in the day.
“I am fulfilling the objectives I have been set,” Yevnevich said. “I have
faced no travel problems in Georgia.”
Aleko Sukhitashvili, chief of Georgia’s military police, said the general and
officers accompanying him had not been detained.
But Russia’s Foreign Ministry said police had stopped Yevnevich’s car near
the town of Gori in eastern Georgia, but after he had been identified the car
had been allowed to proceed.
“I am traveling quietly to Tbilisi [Georgia’s capital],” said Yevnevich, who
oversaw the withdrawal of military hardware from the Russian base in
Georgia’s Akhalkalaki.
The pullout from Akhalkalaki, about 30 kilometers (19 miles) from the border
with NATO-member Turkey, began May 15.
Under a March 31 agreement between Russia and Georgia, Russian troops are to
leave two Soviet-era military bases in Georgia by 2008.