Recordings 'show self-defence'

2008-09-16 18:05

Steve Gutterman

Tbilisi - Georgia released recordings on Tuesday of conversations which it says show that Russian troops entered South Ossetia before Georgia unleashed its offensive against the separatist region last month.

The release of the recordings aims to counter Russia's claim that Georgia was the aggressor, and to turn the tables against Moscow in the battle for the moral high ground after a five-day war that killed hundreds of people and deepened the rift between Russia and the West.

The government said the recordings are intercepted cellphone calls between two South Ossetian border guards. It says they show that Russian tanks and troops entered South Ossetia many hours before the Georgian offensive began late on August 7.

The recordings were first released to the New York Times, which reported their contents on 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 armour entered Georgia about 20 hours before the war started".

"It again proves our case that Georgia's move was self-defence, 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 spokesperson 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 ceasefire.

"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."

- AP