Russia delays Georgia withdrawal

Russian soldiers took about 20 Georgian troops prisoner at a key Black Sea port in western Georgia today.

The move came as a small column of Russian tanks and armoured vehicles left the strategic Georgian city of Gori in the first sign of a Russian pullback of troops after a cease-fire intended to end fighting that reignited Cold War tensions.

The two countries also exchanged prisoners captured during their brief war.

However Russian soldiers took Georgian servicemen prisoner in Poti and commandeered several US Humvees waiting to be returned to America.

The deputy head of Russia’s general staff, General Anatoly Nogovitsyn, said Russian forces plan to remain in Poti until a local administration is formed, but did not give further details.

He also justified previous seizures of Georgian soldiers as necessary to crack down on soldiers who were “out of any kind of control ... acting without command”.

Russian troops last week drove Georgian forces out of South Ossetia, after Georgia launched a heavy artillery barrage in the separatist province.

Fighting also flared in a second Russian-backed separatist region, Abkhazia.

The short war has driven tensions between Russia and the West to some of their highest levels since the break-up of the Soviet Union, but Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has defended Russia’s actions.

The ceasefire requires both sides to return to positions held before the fighting began today Russia had not apparently made any significant withdrawal of forces.

A small column of Russian tanks and armoured vehicles left Gori and a Russian officer said they were heading back to South Ossetia and then Russia.

Meanwhile Russia and Georgia exchanged 20 prisoners of war in an effort to reduce tensions. Two Russian military helicopters landed in the village of Igoeti, the closest that Russian forces have advanced to the Georgian capital of Tbilisi. Soldiers and men in unmarked clothing got off and two people in stretchers were taken to Georgian officials.

Georgian ambulances later brought two other people to the Russian choppers.

Georgian Security Council head Alexander Lomaia said 15 Georgians and five Russians were exchanged. “It went smoothly,” he said.

In Brussels, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice backed the setting up of a permanent Nato-Georgia Commission to solidify ties between the Western alliance and Georgia. Diplomats said Washington also supported increasing training for the Georgian military.

At the same time, Nato foreign ministers were discussing possibly scaling back high-level meetings and military cooperation with Russia if it does not abandon crucial positions across Georgia. But there were differences within the alliance over how far to go in punishing Moscow.

At a separate meeting, the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe said Russia agreed to allow 20 more international military monitors in and around South Ossetia.

The United Nations has estimated that the fighting displaced more than 158,000 people. UN refugee chief Antonio Guterres arrived in Tbilisi to meet government representatives to discuss the plight of tens of thousands of South Ossetians uprooted by Georgia’s conflict with Russia.