Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
07TBILISI1063
2007-05-08 12:53:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Tbilisi
Cable title:  

ANTI-AIRCRAFT MISSILE FOUND IN SOUTH OSSETIA

Tags:  PREL PGOV GG 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXRO8868
PP RUEHDBU RUEHFL RUEHKW RUEHLA RUEHROV RUEHSR
DE RUEHSI #1063 1281253
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
P 081253Z MAY 07
FM AMEMBASSY TBILISI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC PRIORITY 6272
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
RUEHVEN/USMISSION USOSCE PRIORITY 2120
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)

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