Georgia: Intercepted calls prove self-defense
By STEVE GUTTERMAN – 56 minutes ago
TBILISI, Georgia (AP) — Intercepted mobile phone calls show that Russian tanks and troops invaded before Georgia unleashed its offensive against South Ossetia, the Georgian government said Tuesday, pressing its claim that Russia was the aggressor in the war last month.
Georgia said the recordings are phone calls between two South Ossetian border guards which prove that Russian tanks and troops entered South Ossetia many hours before the Georgian offensive began late Aug. 7.
The recordings were first released to The New York Times, which reported their contents Tuesday. A Georgian Interior Ministry official, Shota Utiashvili, played two of the recordings for The Associated Press and provided printed English translations from the original Ossetian.
Utiashvili said the alleged intercepts show "that Russian heavy armor entered Georgia about 20 hours before the war started."
"It again proves our case that Georgia's move was self-defense, rather than an unprovoked attack," he said.
The recordings are purportedly intercepts of two exchanges between a South Ossetian border guard at the southern entrance to the Roki tunnel, which leads from the separatist Georgian province to Russia, with another guard at the headquarters in the South Ossetian capital.
The northern tunnel entrance is in Russia.
Russian Foreign Ministry spokesman Andrei Nesterenko dismissed the Georgian claim as "not serious." He said any major troop movements would have been easily tracked by satellites used by NATO nations.
NATO's chief and ambassadors from all 26 allies were in Georgia on Tuesday, showing support for the pro-Western nation and demanding that Russia withdraw forces from Georgia in compliance with a cease-fire.
"I would be grateful if they provide such satellite data to us and the entire global community, provide specific data," Nesterenko said sarcastically. "Allegations that they have eavesdropped on someone and heard something are simply not serious."
According to the English translations of the recordings, in the first call, which purportedly began at 3:41 a.m. local time on Aug. 7, the South Ossetian guard at the tunnel says "they have moved armored personnel carriers out and the tunnel is full."
In the next call, about 10 minutes later, the guard says that "armor and people" had emerged from the tunnel about 20 minutes earlier. Asked whether there was a lot of armor, the guard says, "Well, tanks, BMPs and those things."
Georgia: Intercepted calls prove self-defense
Reply With Quote
Originally Posted by Princeps
