ABKHAZ GANG LEADER MURDERED;FIRE-FIGHT AT

C O N F I D E N T I A L SECTION 01 OF 02 TBILISI 000010 SIPDIS DEPT FOR EUR/CARC E.O. 12958: DECL: 01/05/2019 TAGS: PGOV PREL MOPS KBTS RU GG SUBJECT: ABKHAZ GANG LEADER MURDERED;FIRE-FIGHT AT GANMUKHURI REF: A. HTTP://WWW.MFA.GOV.GE 04-01-2009 1530 ¶B. 08 TBILISI 2458 ¶C. HTTP://RUSTAVI2.GE/NEWS/INDEX/HTML 04-01-02 1205 ¶D. 07 TBILISI 2682 ¶E. 07 TBILISI 2742 Classified By: AMBASSADOR JOHN F. TEFFT FOR REASONS 1.4(B) AND (D). ¶1. (C) Begin Summary: On January 3, Emzar Tchkadua, head of an Abkhaz separatist gang, was murdered. Tchkadua himself killed one of his own relatives and fellow gang members, Daur Ladikovich Tchkadua, on December 30. The Georgian Foreign Ministry (Ref A) and Georgian media reported that Russian forces opened fire on a Georgian police checkpoint situated in Ganmukhuri (Zugdidi District) on January 4 at 0800. The barrage, a combination of small arms fire and grenades, emanated from the direction of the village of Pichori (Gali district),but did not result in any casualties. UNOMIG observers confirmed the fire came from the direction of Pichori, but do not assess that Russian forces were involved due to the seemingly sporadic and aimless firing. UNOMIG observers note that firefights in the region are a regular event, but the use of RPGs, as some preliminary Georgian press reports indicated, would be unprecedented. Georgian authorities maintain that this latest boundary shooting underscores the need for international monitoring. Abkhaz de facto authorities denied the incident occurred, saying the alleged shooting was a pretext for Georgia to amass troops near the border. Georgian officials have been warning that the Abkhaz and Russian have their eyes on the pieces of undisputed Georgian territory north of the Enguri River, which includes Ganmukhuri. End Summary. "Fireworks" to Ring in the New Year -------------- ¶2. (SBU) On December 30, UN Police met with Gali District de facto State Security Service to follow up on a reported murder which occurred in Nabakevi on December 29. According to de facto Security Services, Emsar Tchkadua, an Abkhaz separatist-gang leader, shot and killed his fellow militiaman and relative, Daur Ladikovich Tchkadua. At that time Tchkadua surrendered to de facto authorities. Three days later, villagers in Satbutbayo told UNOMIG patrols that a shooting took place on January 3 and one Abkhaz militia was killed and two were wounded. On the same day, Georgian television station Rustavi 2 (Ref C) identified Emzar Tchkadua as the victim who was killed in a shoot-out due to a disagreement over the redistribution of Georgian villages. According to the same report, Russian crime bosses also took part in the shoot-out. ¶3. (U) Paata Shamugia, the representative of the Gali administration in the Georgian-backed Abkhaz government in exile, characterized these type of confrontations as frequent and the situation there grave. Shooting in Ganmukhuri--the Latest -------------- ¶4. (C) On January 4 at 0800, the Georgian Foreign Ministry (Ref A) and Georgian media reported that Russian forces opened fire on a Georgian police checkpoint situated in Ganmukhuri (Zugdidi District). According to both sources, the barrage, a combination of small arms fire and grenades, emanated from the village of Pichori (Gali district),but did not result in any casualties. According to Georgian press in December, Russian units have reportedly been deployed in Pichori (north of Ganmukhuri) Sida (north of Khurcha),and Chuburkhinji (just east of Sida)--all villages close to the boundary. The press also reported that Russian forces have been deployed in the heights of Gali District that allow Qbeen deployed in the heights of Gali District that allow observation and potentially shelling into Zugdidi District, where Ganmukhuri is located (Ref B). The Georgian Foreign Ministry maintains that these attacks are the latest in a series of criminal acts, which have already resulted in 10 deaths, as well as numerous injuries to Georgian law enforcement and civilians. Georgian authorities maintain that this incident underscores the need for international monitoring. Ruslan Kishmaria, Abkhaz "Special Representative" in Gali, portrayed the event as "some kind of score settling between criminals or a clash between Georgian law enforcement units and Georgian criminal elements." ¶5. (C) UNOMIG military monitors who went to the scene confirmed the fire came from the direction of the area around Pichori village, but do not assess that Russian forces were involved due to the aimless nature of the firings. A EUMM representative told Poloff that they were unable to confirm the direction from where the firing emanated, and were TBILISI 00000010 002 OF 002 skeptical of Georgian early media reports about RPG use. (Comment: Press descriptions describing the event vary, some specify RPGs, submachine guns, grenades and/or mortars were used. End Comment.) EUMM observers took photographs of craters at the scene which indicate grenade use. Locals in the area, who described similar incidents as almost daily in occurrence, told the UNOMIG patrols on the date in question, that Abkhaz were marking the second anniversary of the death of a local leader. Additionally, Abkhaz militia usually fire in the air across the Cease-Fire-Line (CFL),"especially when intoxicated." The January 4 incident is the latest in a string of incidents which have occurred at Ganmukhuri, a flash point for both de facto, Russian and Georgian forces (Ref D, E). Given the build-up of Russian forces near the administration boundary, Georgians could be feeling a slow squeeze to wrest them from Ganmukhuri, Khurcha, and the triangle west of the Enguri Dam (Ref B). TEFFT