Identifier
Created
Classification
Origin
09TBILISI10
2009-01-05 14:21:00
CONFIDENTIAL
Embassy Tbilisi
Cable title:  

ABKHAZ GANG LEADER MURDERED;FIRE-FIGHT AT

Tags:  PGOV PREL MOPS KBTS RU GG 
pdf how-to read a cable
VZCZCXRO9790
OO RUEHFL RUEHKW RUEHLA RUEHNP RUEHROV RUEHSR
DE RUEHSI #0010/01 0051421
ZNY CCCCC ZZH
O 051421Z JAN 09
FM AMEMBASSY TBILISI
TO RUEHC/SECSTATE WASHDC IMMEDIATE 0652
INFO RUEHZL/EUROPEAN POLITICAL COLLECTIVE PRIORITY
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).

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