WASHINGTON, May 7 (UPI) -- The al Qaida terrorist network does not have a presence in the Republic of Georgia, the Georgian defense minister said Tuesday, contradicting U.S. official's claims in February that several dozen
terrorists had fled Afghanistan for the forbidding Pankisi Gorge area.
The United States' top diplomat in Georgia, Philip Remler, told a Georgian newspaper Feb. 11 that the fighters had arrived in Pankisi and were in contact with an Arab warlord known as Khattab -- Russia's most wanted Chechen commander -- who in turn was trained by Osama bin Laden himself.
Remler's interview preceded an announcement by the Pentagon that it would send 150 U.S. Special Forces trainers to help the Georgian military clear out the Pankisi Gorge, a 90-square kilometer area bordering Chechnya. The 150 American trainers will teach counter-terrorism tactics to four battalions of
Georgian troops.
The first 26 trainers have arrived and are training headquarters staff of the Georgian military, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld said Tuesday. Germany and Turkey are also sending military trainers.
But Georgian Defense Minister David Tevzadze said at a Pentagon press conference with Rumsfeld that al Qaida has no foothold in his country, and that it would be difficult, if not impossible, for fighters to flee Afghanistan for Pankisi Gorge.
"You know, actually, for me personally, it is very difficult to believe in that, because to come from Afghanistan to that part of Georgia, they need to
transverse at least six or seven countries, including the Caspian Sea," Tevzadze said.
Tevzadze said the mere announcement of the U.S. military training has improved the situation in the Pankisi region.
"I'll tell you the situation in Pankisi dramatically improved since the program -- the train-and-equip program was loudly announced. Yes, it seems strange even for me, but that's true," Tevzadze said.
The most obvious effect is the ability of law enforcement agencies to work there, he said.
Tevadze vowed the newly trained troops would be used only in the Pankisi Gorge region to the northeast and not in Abkhazia, a breakaway province in the south that sits between the Caucusus Mountains and the Black Sea.
He said his government is committed to finding a peaceful solution to the troubles with Abkhazia. But practical considerations are also at play, he admitted.
"I don't have any facilities nearby Abkhazia ... which will be suitable for these four battalions to be deployed from there," he said.