Russia starts pull-back

2008-10-05 16:15

Tbilisi - Russian forces in Georgia on Sunday removed a first checkpoint as part of an expected pull-back of troops following August's war over the South Ossetia rebel region.

Russian forces were also seen preparing to leave other checkpoints in a buffer zone around South Ossetia and in western Georgia, after warnings by Georgian and US officials that Moscow might try to delay the pull-back following a Friday bomb attack.

"Our observers went to the checkpoint in Ali, northwest of Gori, and saw that it has been dismantled," a spokesperson of the European Union mission monitoring the withdrawal told AFP.

"This is the first dismantled checkpoint," he said.

The Ali checkpoint was on the southwest edge of the buffer zone, about 15km from South Ossetia's de facto border.

Russian forces are due to withdraw from buffer zones around South Ossetia and the second rebel region of Abkhazia by October 10 under an EU-brokered peace deal.

Georgian Interior Ministry spokesperson Shota Utiashvili voiced optimism that the removal of the Ali checkpoint, where 20-30 Russian soldiers had been posted, was the start of a fuller pull-back.

"It looks like the start of the withdrawal," he said. "Georgian police are moving into the area immediately."

- AFP