ANTI-AIRCRAFT MISSILE FOUND IN SOUTH OSSETIA

C O N F I D E N T I A L TBILISI 001063 SIPDIS SIPDIS E.O. 12958: DECL: 05/09/2017 TAGS: PREL PGOV GG SUBJECT: ANTI-AIRCRAFT MISSILE FOUND IN SOUTH OSSETIA Classified By: Ambassador John F. Tefft, for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) ¶1. (C) Summary: On May 7, Noah Lane, Security Officer for the OSCE reported that a joint OSCE-Joint Peacekeeping Force (JPKF) monitoring team found a South Ossetian ZU-23 anti-aircraft gun and an Igla (or SA-7) surface-to-air (SAM) missile between the villages of Nikozi and Avnevi, in the Zone of Conflict. Lane said that armed South Ossetian militia at the scene fired shots into the air and forced the OSCE monitors and the Russian and Georgian peacekeepers to lie face down on the ground. He said that the OSCE monitors and the JPKF were released without further incident, but were not able to confiscate the either the ZU-23 or the Igla, which are prohibited under existing agreements. Also on May 7, Georgian State Minister for Conflict Resolution, Merab Antadze, went to Tskhinvali to discuss this incident with Boris Chochiev, South Ossetian Co-Chair of the Joint Control Commission (JCC). End Summary ¶2. (C) On May 7, Lane reported that a joint OSCE-JPKF monitoring team discovered a ZU-23 anti-aircraft gun between the villages of Nikozi and Avnevi, in the Zone of Conflict, attended by several armed South Ossetian militia. He said OSCE military observers also reported finding a tent near the anti-aircraft gun where an Igla SAM was hidden. When the observers found the SAM, he said, the South Ossetian militia panicked, firing shots into the air and forcing the OSCE monitors and the Russian and Georgian PKFs to lie face down on the ground. Lane said that one of the militia attempted to strike the Georgian peacekeeper with the butt of his rifle, but was stopped by an Ossetian peacekeeper from the monitoring team. The monitors were released without further incident. Lane noted that it was unprecedented for the South Ossetian militia to treat a Russian peacekeeper in this manner, adding that although the situation was calm at the moment, the South Ossetians seemed 'nervous' and further incidents could rapidly escalate tensions. ¶3. (C) Ruslan Abishidze, Deputy State Minister for Conflict Resolution, told us May 8 that the meeting between Antadze and Chochiev had largely consisted of Chochiev restating de-facto president Kokoiti's demand that the GoG stop all contact with South Ossetian "alternative president" Dmitry Sanakoyev. Abishidze also said that the commander of the Georgian PKF in South Ossetia recently sent a letter to JPKF commander Kulakhmetov reiterating the GoG's call for the establishment of a JPKF checkpoint at Didi Gupta. ¶4. (C) Comment: The latest discovery of prohibited weapons in the conflict zone is yet more proof that the South Ossetians are continuing to bring weapons into the ZOC in violation of existing agreements. It also further underscores the need for a JPKF checkpoint at Didi Gupta that could deter the flow of illegal arms into the ZOC. The rough treatment of a Russian peacekeeper by members of the South Ossetian militia is surprising and suggests underlying tensions between the de-facto authorities and their longtime patrons in Moscow. TEFFT