Georgia Watch, February 3rd

Nothing to see here. Move along. Keep it moving people...

Despite reassurances, fears remain in GeorgiaColin
Powell�s trip to Russia and Georgia last week was a success. Leaders
of the Autonomous Republic of Adjara, which has had �tensions� with
Georgia�s new president, were fearful Georgians would use troops from
a �military parade� celebrating the president�s inaugural to
seize power in their port capital of Batumi. They didn�t, and
President Mikheil Saakashvili of Georgia and President Aslan Abashidze
of the Autonomous Republic of Adjara had a polite meeting, say sources
in Batumi, who also say President Abashidze purposefully turned out a
large crowd of his Adjaran followers as �warm-body insurance�
against military seizure. David Soumbadze, the Deputy Chief of Mission
at the Embassy of Georgia in Washington, D.C., told The Shadow that his
government �didn�t like the story� on The Hill�s website last
week that spelled out the fears in Adjara of a plot against them. (The
fears, well founded or not, were real: Sources
close to the Adjaran government tell us the black-market price of an
AK-47 automatic rifle rose from about $80 to $500, suggesting they were
being bought up quickly.) Soumbadze did say The Hill story was
widely circulated in both Georgia and Adjara and his government in
Tbilisi complained about its prominence. �Yes, there are some
tensions� with Adjara, Soumbadze said, but, �they have
diminished,� and he denied there was any plot. �We are committed to
democracy and reform and this kind of stuff,� he said, adding, �We
have no intention to use military actions against Adjara.�

Just to recap:

• The Adjaran Government (on the SW border of Georgia) is claiming to have uncovered a secret Georgian plot to seize the republic and it's capitol city of Batumi

• The Head of Emergency Situations Department of Adjara was shot in the head by an unknown gunman five days ago.

• An intrinsic part of today�s oil transport network is the Batumi Oil Transport Facility.

• Both Anadarko and Chevron have been "long time users" of the Batumi Oil Transport Facility in Adjara.

• Condoleeza Rice was on the Board of Directors for Chevron.

• Bush created/served as a consultant to Anadarko.

• On January 24th, Colin Powell went to Georgia to offer the new president a "symbolic stamp of U.S. approval."

Let's just keep on our eyes on this story for a while, shall we?

For more background, click here.

Posted by flow Frazao on February 3, 2004 at 10:10 PM | Permalink