Russia dismantles another key checkpoint

Troops are seen dismantling a key checkpoint in the buffer zone around Georgia's rebel region of South Ossetia.

Russian forces today began dismantling a key checkpoint in the buffer zone around Georgia's rebel region of South Ossetia. The checkpoint near the village of Karaleti is on a main road leading to the South Ossetian capital Tskhinvali. It controls access to a cluster of Georgian villages south of the breakaway region that were on the front line of the August war between Russia and Georgia. Russian soldiers were seen cutting barbed wire between a road block and their encampment at the checkpoint, as well as starting to take down tents. The soldiers refused to say when they were planning to leave.

Russian soldiers were also seen taking down tents and removing material from a checkpoint near South Ossetia at Kvenatkotsa, which Georgian and European Union officials had earlier said was expected to be dismantled today. There were no signs of Russians withdrawing from another position near South Ossetia they were expected to leave today, a communications post near the village of Nadarbazevi. Following the deployment of EU observers last week, Russian forces are expected to withdraw from buffer zones around South Ossetia and another rebel region, Abkhazia, by Friday.

The Russian military dismantled its first checkpoint under the pullback plan yesterday and began taking down others. 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 Aug 26 and has said it intends to keep troops there. *AFP