Russia hindered UN probe of gorge attack - Georgia

UNITED NATIONS, July 27 (Reuters) Georgia accused Russia yesterday of withholding important evidence in an investigation of an attack on a disputed gorge on its de facto border with the breakaway region of Abkhazia.

Georgia says Russian helicopters were involved in the March 11 attack on the Kodori gorge, a charge that Russia denies.

Abkhazia broke away from Georgia in 1993 after the Soviet Union collapsed, when separatists backed by arms from Russia's northern Caucasus region drove out Tbilisi's troops.

A UN-led panel's report on the attack published this month reached no conclusion on who was to blame. But some diplomats have said that with officials from Russia and Abkhazia as well as Georgia on the investigating panel, an open assignation of blame had never looked likely.

Speaking after UN Security Council consultations on Abkhazia, Georgia's ambassador, Irakli Alasania, described the attack on the Kodori gorge as an ''act of war against Georgia'' and urged Russia to cooperate fully with the investigation.

''The Russians withheld some information,'' Alasania told reporters. He said trace numbers from munitions found at the site could easily be traced if Russia would cooperate and Moscow was also withholding information on radar records that would show details of flights in the area at the time.

Russia has denied any involvement in the attack and has suggested Georgia itself might have been behind it.

Maria Zakharova, spokeswoman for Russia's UN mission, rejected charges Moscow had withheld information.

''In the secretary general's report it was stated that Russia did cooperate,'' Zakharova said. She declined to comment on the radar or trace numbers specifically, but said, ''All the materials and all the information which was needed for the investigation were given.'' The Kodori gorge is the de facto border between Abkhazia, on the Black Sea, and Georgia. Its upper part is home to a local pro-Georgian administration, while the lower part is controlled by Abkhazian separatists. Russia lies to the north.

The UN-led probe investigated the firing of rockets, mainly from ground launchers but including one that was thought to have come from a helicopter. No one was hurt.

A key issue was whether helicopters were involved. Moscow's critics say only Russian pilots had the skills to mount the nighttime attack in poor weather in mountainous terrain.

A report by UN Secretary General Ban Ki-Moon presented to the Security Council on Thursday urged all sides to avoid actions such as troop deployments.

''A separation of opposing forces is the primary and often the most effective guarantee of the preservation of peace,'' the report said.

A UN military and police observer mission in Georgia, currently 152-strong, has monitored the situation since 1993.

Reuters BJR VP0430