MOSCOW, October 30 (RIA Novosti) - Russian peacekeepers in Georgia's conflict zone with Abkhazia said on Tuesday they released a group of five Georgian policemen after the Georgian president arrived in the area to intervene.
The Russian peacekeepers detained the officers earlier in the day in the village of Ganmukhuri, saying the Georgians had threatened to open fire on them. Georgia said Russian peacekeepers attacked the policemen and beat them up.
"We have waited for over two hours for the Georgians to decide who is going to take the [released] policemen," Major General Sergei Chaban, commander of the Russian peacekeeping contingent in the conflict zone, said.
Georgia's Interior Ministry officials earlier claimed that Russian peacekeepers surrounded the Patriot youth camp in the village of Ganmukhuri and took the Georgian policemen hostage.
Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili, who arrived briefly at the scene of the incident, demanded that the commander of the Russian peacekeepers leave the country.
"Tell your general, Mr. Chaban, that I am declaring him a persona non-grata, and I want him to leave the country in the next few days," Saakashvili told a Russian peacekeeper in Ganmukhuri before leaving the area.
General Chaban said Russian peacekeepers would soon leave the village and return to their base.
Georgia has repeatedly voiced its goal of regaining control over Abkhazia and South Ossetia, which declared independence in the early 1990s. It has also accused the CIS peacekeeping force, mainly represented by Russians, of backing separatists.
Commenting on the incident, Lt. Gen. Valery Yevnevich, deputy commander of Russia's Ground Forces, said that it was not the first time Georgia had attempted to interfere in the activities of Russian peacekeepers in the conflict zone.
"Law enforcement bodies on the conflicting sides must assist peacekeepers at the tasks set out in their mandate," Yevnevich said. "However, Georgia is constantly trying to interfere in their activities and hamper their work in the conflict zone."
He said in the latest incident, Georgian police briefly arrested and threatened Russian peacekeepers when a civilian van rammed into their car.
"I hope the irresponsible behavior of these 'war dogs' will be met by an appropriate response from Georgian senior police officials," the Russian general said.
Yevnevich, who has been put in charge of Russian peacekeepers, also said General Chaban would retain his position as commander of the CIS peacekeeping contingent in the conflict zone until CIS heads of state appoint a new commander.
Earlier reports quoted officials from the so-called exiled Abkhaz government as saying that a Georgian special task force, that accompanied Saakashvili on his trip to Ganmukhuri, had allegedly disarmed and cordoned off Russian peacekeepers.
Colonel Igor Konashenkov, spokesman for the commander-in-chief of Russia's Ground Forces, has denied the reports.
"Georgian special forces did not conduct any military operations, or disarmament. The Russian peacekeepers waited for Georgian representatives for two and a half hours to transfer the arrested policemen to them, which was later done in the presence of UN observer mission officials," Konashenkov said.
All Russian peacekeepers are currently performing regular tasks at their outposts, the senior military official added.
The latest reports quoted the Georgian leader as saying his country would demand that the UN Security Council sanction the withdrawal of Russian peacekeepers from Abkhazia.
"We should also make our own decision that would meet Georgia's interests and promote peace in the region, the more so since we already have an appropriate parliamentary resolution," Saakashvili said referring to the parliament's decision dated 2006 to withdraw Russian peacekeepers from the conflict zone.
The Georgian president repeatedly accused Russian peacekeepers of beating up Georgian policemen and declined to withdraw his comments about the Russian general.
"I officially raised the issue of his departure and I will not take my words back," Saakashvili said.
