Georgia claims arrest of four Russian soldiers in Abkhazia zone

Moscow, Jun 18 (UNI) The confrontation between Russia and Georgia over latters breakaway republic of Abkhazia continues to simmer, with the Georgian Interior Ministry claiming the arrest of four Russian soldiers trying to smuggle guided missiles into its province.

''The peacekeepers were arrested transporting 35 crates of munitions. The crates contained guided missiles,'' Chief analyst at the ministry, Shota Utiashvili was quoted as saying by Ria Novosti.

''They were arrested over a discrepancy between the documentation on the cargo, and the actual cargo,'' he said.

Mamuka Kurashvili, the commander of the Georgian peacekeeping battalion in the Georgia-South Ossetia conflict area, told reporters that no ammunition cargo had been authorized by Georgia, and that the munitions cargo was being accompanied by airborne troopers.

RIA Novosti has not yet received confirmation of the arrests from the Russian peacekeepers stationed in the area.

Abkhazia is the focus of an ongoing feud between Russia and Georgia which accused the Kremlin of planning to annex the area through ''armed aggression'' when Russia deployed an additional 1,000 peacekeepers in the area in April.

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