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Old 10-05-2008, 02:03 PM   #9 (permalink)
vip0pop
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Lightbulb Before Deadline, Russians Removing Checkpoints

Russian peacekeeping forces dismantled one checkpoint and were at work removing several others on Sunday, four days ahead of a deadline for Russian troops to withdraw from buffer zones outside the separatist enclaves of South Ossetia and Abkhazia. The movement came two days after an explosion in Tskhinvali, the South Ossetian capital, killed eight Russian soldiers and three Ossetian civilians, threatening to disrupt the schedule for withdrawa,warhammer gold, warhammer gold ,war gold , war power leveling, aion goldl. Georgian authorities said the movement was a sign that Russia would meet the deadline.“They have probably decided to continue with the withdrawal,” said Shota Utiashvili, a senior official for Georgia’s Interior Ministry. “We expect by the 10th, it will be over.” A peace deal brokered by French President Nicolas Sarkozy set October 10 as the deadline for Russian troops to yield the buffer zones to Georgia. European Union monitors have been carrying out patrols in the buffer zones since last Wednesday in preparation for the handover.The Nabarkhevi checkpoint, which was dismanted Sunday, is located on the southwest corner of the buffer zone that extends about four miles outside the boundary of South Ossetia. Russian troops on Sunday were dismantling two more checkpoints near South Ossetia and positions near Zugdidi, outside Abkhazia, Mr. Utiashvili said. Ambassador Hansjoerg Haber, who is heading the European Union mission in Tbilisi, said he is “confident that the Russian side will respect its commitment to withdraw forces by 10 October.” Officials in South Ossetia said they were still investigating Friday’s explosion, which killed eight Russian soldiers and three Ossetian civilians. Russian authorities said their forces had confiscated two cars in a village in the buffer zone and brought the cars to their headquarters, where one car exploded. After the Russian withdrawal from the buffer zones is complete, South Ossetia will close its border with Georgia, leaving only two checkpoints open, South Ossetian President Eduard Kokoity told Interfax on Sunday. Russia has recognized the two enclaves as sovereign nations and plans to help protect their borders.
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