GEORGIA: Georgians adapt to life in newly independent South Ossetia, but tensions remain

Record ID: 573979

  • Title: GEORGIA: Georgians adapt to life in newly independent South Ossetia, but tensions remain
  • Date: 4th October 2008
  • Summary: WOMAN AND BOY WALKING ALONG ROAD
  • Embargoed: 19th October 2008 13:00
  • Keywords:
  • Location: Georgia
  • Country: Georgia
  • Topics: General
  • Reuters ID: LVA7Y0SFYEE8OD9HOEXY6797VVO9
  • Story Text: A column of South Ossetian troops moves along a dirt road towards Akhalgori, a remote town on the eastern edge of South Ossetia close to the border with Georgia proper, and until very recently controlled by Tbilisi.
    The town lies just inside the de facto borders of South Ossetia, but is mainly populated by ethnic Georgians and continued to be administered and policed by the Georgian authorities even after South Ossetia effectively threw off Georgian rule in the early 1990s.
    But it was seized by South Ossetian armed forces in August, after Russia sent tanks and troops into the rebel region to repel a Georgian assault to retake it from pro-Moscow separatists. Six weeks since the Russia-Georgia war ended, South Ossetian soldiers now patrol the town, secured by small number of Russian troops.
    Aid workers and foreign observers who have gained access to the area in recent weeks say the town is calm, but visibly emptying of its Georgian residents.

    "With everyone walking around with weapons, of course everyone's afraid, the children are afraid. And so they leave", said Mr.
    Maharashvili, a baker.
    Georgian authorities and aid agencies say around 5,000 people have left the area. Akhalgori had a population of some 8,000 before the war, mainly Georgians.
    A new South Ossetian administration is being set up in the town to replace the ousted Georgian authorities and will be working on a new budget and operations. Members will also be working to establish exactly how many people have fled.

    "They (the South Ossetian administration in Tskhinvali) called me yesterday and said I would be working in the administration, dealing with the population, how many remain", said Igor Tigeev, an Ossetian from Akhalgori, who had just been appointed to one of the local positions.
    Most institutions are still functioning, including schools and many shops, though with the change in administration and Tbilisi no longer in control, many workers are not getting paid and people continue to pay for goods in Georgian Lari.
    Both Georgian and secessionist authorities have reported tensions in the area, however, with Georgia citing reports of looting and describing Akhalgori as under the control of "Ossetian gangs".
    Local inhabitants deny this, though admit feeling uncomfortable with the presence of armed Ossetians.

    "In principle they (the South Ossetian soldiers) don't interfere with anyone but when you see them with weapons, you feel kind of uncomfortable", said Tamaz Katenashvili, a Georgian shopkeeper born in Akhalgori who has two sons studying in Tbilisi.
    Katenashvili's main concern is loss of business. With the exodus of people from the town, he has had to temporarily close his shop for lack of customers. He says the most important thing is for people to have work and to continue to be able to move freely both within South Ossetia and Georgia proper.
    A 200-plus EU mission to monitor the ceasefire began on Wednesday (October 1), with unarmed observers patrolling in a buffer zone set down by Russian forces near South Ossetia.
    But they cannot get into Akhalgori, and Russia insists the monitors will not operate inside South Ossetia even after their troops pull back from the buffer zones as promised by October 10.
    Refugee accounts of the situation inside Akhalgori are feeding demands from the Georgian government that it be allowed to take it back.
    One Western analyst with close links to the Georgian authorities said Tbilisi had already been persuaded once by its Western allies to refrain from sending the army and police back into the area.
    Analysts warn that if hostilities are to break out again, Akhalgori could well provide the spark.

    "All we want is for them (the Russian forces) to quietly leave a region that was never ever under separatist control," a senior Georgian government official told Reuters on condition of anonymity.
    Georgian media reports speak of South Ossetian soldiers demanding ethnic Georgians in the area take Russian passports, or get out. The reports have been impossible to verify.
    Russia plans to keep some 7,600 troops in South Ossetia and Abkhazia.
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