Russia wants UN to rebuke Georgia actions

UNITED NATIONS, Sep 29 (Reuters) Russia asked the UN Security Council on Thursday to rebuke Georgia for ''dangerous and unacceptable'' actions it said could endanger a peace process in the breakaway province of Abkhazia.

Georgian police and guards on Wednesday surrounded the regional headquarters of Russian troops in Georgia's capital, Tbilisi, and arrested four Russian army intelligence officers. A fifth Russian officer was accused of spying but was not detained.

Russia's UN Ambassador, Vitaly Churkin, who called for emergency consultations of the 15-member Security Council, drafted a statement that would urge Georgia to withdraw troops from the Kodori Gorge in Abkhazia and reconsider plans to declare a new republic there.

Churkin yesterday said he wanted the council to tell Georgia to ''exercise restraint'' because ''we don't want the situation in that troubled part of the world to deteriorate.'' Council members decided to hear a briefing from UN officials on Friday on Abkhazia, where the United Nations has stationed monitors, before considering the Russian statement.

The statement would express ''grave concern'' over recent ''provocative actions'' by Georgia, ''leading to a further aggravation of the situation.'' Abkhazia won effective independence from Georgia in a 1992-1993 war, and Moscow props up the province by paying pensions, issuing Russian passports and allowing cross-border traffic as well as stationing peacekeepers there.

Georgia accuses Russia of backing Abkhaz separatists, which Moscow denies.

Churkin said Georgia's arrests of the Russian officers only raised tensions since their function was to supervise the dismantling of Russian military bases, as Georgia requested.

He said Georgia had embarked on an ''unacceptable and dangerous course of action.'' Russia recalled its ambassador from Georgia on Thursday over the arrests and ordered the evacuation of some official personnel. The crisis comes after months of deteriorating relations between Georgia and its giant neighbor, especially over President Mikhail Saakashvili's pro-Western policies.

Georgian Interior Minister Vano Merabishvili told journalists there was proof of a spy network, releasing video footage purporting to show the officers conspiring with Georgian citizens. One showed an exchange of money.

Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov denounced Georgia's action as a ''complete outrage.'' He said a Russian officer and six soldiers had also been beaten in a separate incident in the Black Sea port of Batumi.

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