GEORGIAN AND ABKHAZ FORCES CLASH NEAR KODORI

C O N F I D E N T I A L TBILISI 002392 SIPDIS SIPDIS STATE FOR EUR/CARC E.O. 12958: DECL: 09/22/2017 TAGS: PREL PGOV GG SUBJECT: GEORGIAN AND ABKHAZ FORCES CLASH NEAR KODORI Classified By: CDA Mark X. Perry, for reasons 1.4 (b) and (d) ¶1. (C) On the evening of Thursday, September 20, Georgian media reported a clash between Georgian and Abkhaz forces near the Georgian-controlled upper Kodori gorge. Georgian Minister of Interior Vano Merabishvili held a press conference on Thursday evening to inform the public about it. He said that two days ago, road workers building a road that will link the Kodori Gorge with the rest of Georgia (passing entirely through Georgian-controlled territory) noticed about 25 men moving around near the construction site. Georgian special forces were sent in to investigate, were fired upon, and returned fire. The Georgians allege the Abkhaz contingent was trying to sabotage the road and prevent access to the Kodori Gorge from Georgia. Merabishvili reported that Georgian special forces had killed two of the intruders (including the leader, who was identified as an ethnic Russian),injured one, and captured six. On September 21, Charge was told privately by Shota Utiashvili, Deputy Minister of Internal Affairs, that besides the two killed, seven were captured and six escaped out of a total of fifteen in the Abkhaz unit. The group was identified by the Georgians as being attached to the Abkhaz "anti-terrorist center". The seven detainees are being held in Zugdidi for questioning. Although they were intially thought to be of different ethnicities, they have all been determined to be Abkhaz. They were in military uniforms but did not carry identity documents, according to Georgian reports. Utiashvili said the captured men told the Georgians that they were based in Sokhumi. A few days ago, they said, a Russian officer whom they had never seen before arrived to take command of their unit. He made the men remove their ID's and leave them behind. He then led them into the mountains without telling them their mission. Post will report more details as they become available. ¶2. (C) The incident follows a series of military exercises by the Abkhaz in the region near Kodori. Georgian State Minister for Conflict Settlement Davit Bakradze linked the attack to aggressive rhetoric from Abkhaz de facto president Sergei Bagapsh about reserving the right to take control of the area by force. Kodori is part of Abkhazia but has always been under the control of the Georgians before and after the 1992-93 war. Bakradze told a press conference that "We intend to resolve the conflict peacefully and politically, but we will not let any act of provocation go unanswered which poses a threat to our people's security and peace." ¶3. (C) Bagapsh held a press conference of his own on Thursday after returning to Sokhumi from an investment conference in the Russian town of Sochi. He declared that the incident involved an attack by Georgian special forces on a group of Abkhaz conscripts at a training camp in the Abkhaz district of Tkvarcheli. An Abkhaz press statement places the camp "at least 10 km from the road". Bagapsh said he has convened an emergency session of the Abkhaz security council. According to press reports, the Abkhaz are readying reinforcements and heavy armor to be sent to the camp if needed. ¶4. (C) UNOMIG plans to send a patrol to investigate the site of the skirmish on September 22. The patrol will include representatives from the CIS peacekeeping force, the Abkhaz and the Georgian sides. Neither the UN nor the PKF has made any public statement at this point. However, UNOMIG chief Jean Arnault told Charge on September 21 that UNOMIG hopes to examine the bodies of the two men killed in the skirmish and to interview members of the Abkhaz unit who escaped. Arnault said that the Abkhaz deny that a firefight took place, and claim that the Georgians captured the Abkhaz soldiers bloodlessly and then executed two of them. The Georgians say there was a skirmish followed by hot pursuit of the Abkhaz unit. Arnault thinks the UNOMIG investigation will be able to determine what actually happened. PERRY