AFP: Russia says 'forces in Georgia' seeking to provoke new conflict

KARALETI, Georgia (AFP) — Russia on Monday accused "forces in Georgia" of seeking to provoke a new conflict, but vowed to complete a withdrawal on schedule following the August war between the two countries.

Russian forces were dismantling checkpoints in buffer zones around Georgia's rebel regions as they prepared to pull back after the war over South Ossetia.

In a strongly worded statement, the Russian foreign ministry vowed to complete the withdrawal on schedule despite efforts by "forces in Georgia" to use "terrorist acts" to destabilize the situation and provoke a new conflict.

The deaths on Friday of seven Russian soldiers in an apparent car bomb in South Ossetia were cited as part of a Georgian bid to derail the withdrawal. Tbilisi has denied any involvement.

"The new aggravation of the situation in the South Caucasus provokes deep unease," the foreign ministry said, but added Russia "firmly intended" to withdraw forces from Georgian territory by Friday.

Among the positions being dismantled on Monday was a key Russian checkpoint near the village of Karaleti on the main road leading to Tskhinvali, capital of the breakaway Georgian region of South Ossetia and the focus of the war.

Russian soldiers were seen taking down tents and cutting barbed wire between a road block and their encampment at the checkpoint, which controls access to a cluster of Georgian villages south of the breakaway region.

The soldiers refused to say when they were planning to leave.

Following the deployment of European observers last week, Russian forces are expected to withdraw from buffer zones around South Ossetia and Abkhazia by a Friday deadline under an EU-brokered ceasefire.

The Russian military dismantled its first checkpoint under the pull-back plan Sunday and began taking down others.

Highlighting continued tensions, an Abkhaz security official said one of the region's border guards was killed in a shoot-out on the de facto border with Georgia, while Tbilisi said a Georgian-controlled area near Abkhazia came under mortar fire.

The Russian foreign ministry said forces in Georgia were engaging in violence in a conscious bid to derail the withdrawal.

"It seems some forces in Tbilisi... are consciously moving to aggravate the situation in the region and through a series of terrorist acts are trying to provoke new military action," the ministry statement said.

The ministry also suggested Georgia was responsible for the murder of a local official in South Ossetia on Friday and the shooting dead of a building company employee the day before.

"We are counting on the European Union, which has stepped forward as the guarantor of Georgia's non-use of force, to take appropriate measures with the aim of stabilizing the situation."

Russian forces pushed into Georgia in early August to repel a Georgian military effort to regain control of South Ossetia.

Moscow said it was protecting Russian citizens there from Georgian aggression, but Tbilisi accused it of having provoked the conflict to cement control over the region and destabilise its pro-Western government.

Russia recognised Abkhazia and South Ossetia as independent on August 26 and has said it intends to keep troops there.

A Russian commander in South Ossetia told the Interfax news agency Monday that six positions on the southern limits of the buffer zone would all be removed within one day, without specifying which day.

Russian forces were also seen taking down a Russian flag and tents from a checkpoint near South Ossetia at Kvenatkotsa, which Georgian and European Union officials had earlier said was expected to be dismantled Monday.

Russian soldiers were seen loading equipment into trucks at two checkpoints in western Georgia, near the second rebel region of Abkhazia.