Presence of U.S. military advisers worries Russians

TBILISI, Georgia -- With U.S. military advisers already in Georgia -- and with the prospect of hundreds more American troops being sent to Russia's doorstep -- Georgian and U.S. officials denied Wednesday that American soldiers would go into combat against terrorism in the small Caucasus nation.

Russia, however, was clearly alarmed.

President Bush said the U.S. troops could be sent to Georgia to help train its military to fight guerrillas linked to Osama bin Laden's al-Qaida terrorist network. U.S. and Russian officials say the militants -- including several dozen who had been in Afghanistan -- are in the area of the Pankisi Gorge, near Georgia's border with Russia's breakaway republic of Chechnya.

Advisers arrived Tuesday

The head of the Georgian Defense Ministry's information department, Paapa Gaprindashvili, said several U.S. military advisers arrived in Georgia Tuesday to discuss military training.

Putting troops in Georgia would bring the U.S. military to Russia's doorstep, unlike the deployment of U.S. and other Western troops at remote bases in Central Asia, which Russia considers part of its historic sphere of influence. Russia raised relatively little objection to those deployments.

Russian Foreign Minister Igor Ivanov said the U.S. military presence in Georgia could "further aggravate the already complicated situation" in the region.

Alexei Arbatov, the deputy head of the Russian parliament's defense committee, said that if the United States wants Russian cooperation in the war against terrorism, it should consult with Moscow about its military deployments in the region.

U.S. and Georgian officials insisted U.S. forces would not take direct part in anti-terrorist operations.

No plans for action

A senior U.S. diplomat, speaking on condition of anonymity, said there were no plans for U.S. forces to engage in military action in Georgia. And Georgia's Deputy Security Minister Iraklii Alasaniya told Rustavi 2 television: "Georgia has not discussed this question with the United States or with other friendly countries."

Those assurances did little to mollify Russia, which often accuses the United States of acting arrogantly and unilaterally.

Russia and Georgia have long been at odds over Georgia's desire to become closer to the West and an eventual NATO member. The Kremlin has accused Georgia of allowing rebels fighting in Chechnya to shelter just across the border in Georgia's Pankisi Gorge region; Georgia in turn has accused Russia of repeatedly violating its airspace to chase down rebels.

Georgia recently refused Russian suggestions of help in fighting against insurgents in the region. The Georgian government's willingness to let the United States offer training and advice while giving the cold shoulder to Russia is seen as an insult in Moscow.

The U.S. diplomat suggested that Russia should welcome U.S. involvement because it would improve Russian security. "We're trying to enable Georgia to make the border (with Chechnya) less porous," the diplomat said.

He added that Russian President Vladimir "Putin and the Russian leadership understand what we're doing."

Putin made no comment on the controversy Wednesday. Putin surprised many in the West by his firm cooperation with the U.S.-led anti-terrorism campaign in Afghanistan and by his non-objection to Western forces using Central Asian bases.

Deployment could be risky

The United States intends to bolster Georgia's security, yet a U.S. deployment could equally threaten destabilization. Georgia has been shaken by civil wars since the collapse of the Soviet Union a decade ago. Two regions -- Abkhazia and South Ossetia -- have been de facto independent following separatist wars.

Abkhazia's unrecognized prime minister, Anri Dzhergeniya, was quoted by the news agency ITAR-Tass on Wednesday as saying growing U.S. involvement in Georgia would spur Abkhazia to seek closer relations with Russia.

A U.S. deployment would be the second large-scale training operation undertaken by the Pentagon in the aftermath of the Sept. 11 terrorist attacks, following the deployment of special forces trainers to the Philippines.

Russian officials portray their war in Chechnya as a fight against international terrorism and allege that rebels were using the Pankisi Gorge as a staging ground. Some have even suggested that Osama bin Laden could be in the Pankisi Gorge -- an allegation Georgian officials have denied. Georgia has been a key U.S. ally in the region since the 1991 breakup of the Soviet Union, and Georgian President Eduard Shevardnadze has appeared eager to secure U.S. help, which would check Russian power in the region.