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Georgians wary as Russian troops exit

An elderly Georgian man gestures to Russian peacekeepers at a checkpoint near the city of Gori, Georgia, as Russian troops were leaving on Friday. PHOTO: EPA

Residents of the western Georgian town of Zugdidi celebrated Friday after a column of Russian tanks and troops withdrew from the area, but some were wary of Moscow’s real intentions.

Only minutes after 80 vehicles were seen heading towards the nearby breakaway province of Abkhazia, only about 6km away, locals in a restaurant broke out wine to drink to their departure.

Akali Sarakidze and his seven friends opened bottles of Bagrationi, a Georgian sparkling wine, in Zugdidi’s Mendzel restaurant. “That’s it. They’ve left at last!” he cried before proposing a toast with his friends.

“It’s a big day!” he said to cheers from his friends after introducing himself to journalists in the restaurant and offering them a glass.

In the street, many gathered to witness the tanks and troops roll by, some taking photos with the Russian firepower in the background.

There was plenty of time to capture the moment — the column took nearly an hour to pass through the town.

Russian officers who had been using an official residence of Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili in the town also left on Friday, as did those that had been occupying a nearby police station.

Georgian police officers prevented curious onlookers from entering the police building, saying they feared the Russians had left mines, which could be potential deathtraps.

Any sense of celebration in Zugdidi was nevertheless tempered by fears that Russian forces might come back.

“They are never going to leave,” said Yani, a slight young man. “They are only going to repaint their vehicles in Russian peacekeeper colors so that the Americans don’t hassle them to leave any more.”

A top Russian general indicated on Friday that Russia would retain control over a key highway in western Georgia after completing its troop pullout.

Maps, displayed at a press conference by deputy chief of the Russian general staff Anatoly Nogovitsyn, showed Moscow reserved the right to station troops on long stretches of Georgia’s main east-west road.

These included most of the route from Georgia’s main commercial port of Poti in the west to the town of Senaki, where Nogovitsyn said troops would occupy the military aerodrome.

One checkpoint was on Friday in Khobi, halfway between Senaki and Zugdidi towards the border with Abkhazia. Two armoured personnel carriers and a military truck were parked there and soldiers were digging in. On a bridge on the outskirts of Poti, Russian soldiers in blue helmets were also fortifying positions. Another Russian position was seen on the edge of a forest on the road leaving Poti for Batumi to the south.

“I will only celebrate when they are all gone,” Yani said.

In Western Georgia, a cameraman saw a convoy of at least 150 Russian tanks, armored vehicles and trucks leaving the military garrison town of Senaki, where Moscow had said it would keep a presence as part of its “security zone.”

Moscow sent in troops this month after Georgia tried to retake its separatist South Ossetia region.

Russia crushed Georgian forces and pushed on further, crossing the main highway and moving close to a Western-backed oil pipeline. They also moved into Western Georgia from Abkhazia, a second breakaway region on the Black Sea.

Convoys of Russian tanks, armored personnel carriers and soldiers left their positions on Friday and headed back into rebel-held territory — a redeployment Russia said complied with a French-brokered ceasefire deal.

But Washington disagreed.

“They have not completely withdrawn from areas considered undisputed territory and they need to do that,” a White House spokesman said.

British Foreign Secretary David Miliband said he was “deeply concerned” that Russian forces had not withdrawn to their positions before the outbreak of hostilities, as agreed.

Early yesterday, Georgian police were patrolling the streets and the grocery market had re-opened for the first time since the Russians took the town.

NATO has frozen contacts with Russia in a show of support for Georgia, an aspiring member of the military alliance. But despite angry rhetoric, Western states have avoided talk of specific sanctions against Moscow.

Residents in the Georgian town of Gori, occupied by Russian forces since they stormed in earlier this month, watched the soldiers pack up and leave on Friday.

“We’re peaceful people,” said one soldier as he waited for the order to leave the town. “We’re peacekeepers.”
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