Georgia accused Russia of "ethnic cleansing"

TBILISI, Oct 6: Russia today deported a planeload of Georgians it said were in the country illegally but Tbilisi said the Kremlin had now added a soft form of ''ethnic cleansing'' to its sanctions against its pro-Western neighbour.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said ''irresponsible'' Georgian policies were aimed at preparing the way for use of force to restore Tbilisi's rule in two separatist regions.

Russia has severed all transport and postal links with Georgia, stopped issuing entry visas to Georgians, and raided Georgian-owned businesses in Moscow in a row over Tbilisi's arrest of four Russian soldiers on spying charges.

The four were released but their arrest ignited smouldering tensions between the two nations, at odds for years over Georgia's wish to move closer to the West and Tbilisi's hostility to the Russian leadership.

The 136 Georgian deportees, looking exhausted, some with tears in their eyes, walked down a ramp from the back of a huge Ilyushin cargo plane after arrival at Tbilisi airport.

A Reuters reporter saw one woman drop to her knees and kiss the tarmac. Russian officials said they were expelled because they did not have the right documents, but several showed reporters their passports with valid Russian entry visas.

''It is terrible, we feel like Jews during World War Two, not like humans,'' said one of the deportees, who gave her name as Irina.

Today's deportations followed President Putin's order to tighten up controls on illegal migrants, though he did not link the order to Georgia.

Up to a million Georgians live and work in Russia, many without permits. Their remittances are an important contribution to a Georgian economy suffering high unemployment.

''What Russia is doing ... is a soft form of ethnic cleansing,'' Georgian Foreign Minister Gela Bezhuashvili told reporters.

Diplomats fear the standoff between Tbilisi and Moscow could lead to the risk of clashes in Abkhazia and South Ossetia, two regions which broke free from Georgian central control in the early 1990s and favour closer links with Russia.

Russia has ignored calls from the United States and the European Union to reopen transport links with Georgia.

ISOLATION

The Kremlin quoted Putin as saying Georgia's policies were ''aimed at ratcheting up tension and preparing for a military scenario for 'settling' the Georgian-Abkhaz and Georgian-South Ossetian conflicts.'' ''Our position is that the international community cannot ignore the irresponsibility of the Georgian authorities,'' Putin said in a letter to Karel De Gucht, chairman in office of the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).

Shortly before the deportees touched down in Tbilisi, another flight, with 178 Russian citizens on board, took off for Moscow. They had approached Russia's embassy for help in getting home after the sanctions left them stranded in Georgia.

Georgian Economy Minister Irakly Chogovadze was at the airport to see them off and handed each two bottles of Georgian wine. Russia banned imports of Georgian wine earlier this year.

''We won't be implementing the same policies in Georgia that Russia has,'' he told Reuters. ''Everybody who would like to come to Georgia is welcome.'' Russia's liberal opposition has said the Kremlin's measures against Georgia have snowballed into an anti-Georgian witchhunt.

A deputy head of the Moscow city education department said police had asked schools to report if any of their Georgian pupils had parents in the country illegally. He said schools would not comply.

One of Russia's best-selling novelists, Grigory Chkhartishvili, told Reuters tax police were investigating him.

He linked the move to ''state-wide hysteria'' directed at ethnic Georgians.

Georgia's President Mikhail Saakashvili was boosted on Friday when early returns from local elections indicated he had won a convincing victory.

Russian officials say Georgia is harassing opposition parties and cast doubt on the fairness of the election.

The Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) said the vote was ''conducted with general respect for fundamental freedoms,'' but that Saakashvili's party had used its advantage as incumbent to win over voters.

Reuters