Tense times on Ossetian border

http://news.bbc.co.uk/go/rss/-/1/hi/world/europe/7729698.stm

Version 0 of 1.

By Tom Esslemont BBC News, Perevi, Georgia

Months after the fighting stopped, the Georgian village of Perevi was still occupied by Russian forces. But when they pulled back, a few days ago, the locals had little time for jubilation.

Georgian villagers have been returning to their homes, but say tension is rising

It was armed militia from South Ossetia - not the Georgian authorities - who took over.

Three months after the conflict ended, Russian troops have largely pulled back to the areas they occupied previously. That was part of the agreement brokered by the French President, Nicolas Sarkozy, in September.

But there are still certain areas in dispute.

One of the disputed villages is Perevi, which on the map is on the Georgian side of the border. It sits in the forested foothills in the shadow of the jagged, snow-capped mountains of the Caucasus.

Russian news agencies have quoted South Ossetia's separatist leader, Eduard Kokoity, as insisting that part of the village is located in South Ossetia - and that his forces entered it legitimately.

Local residents - all of whom are ethnically Georgian - say the situation is tense. And you get that feeling in the nearby villages.

'Intimidation'

Marina Amianashvili, a retired woman in her 40s, lives in neighbouring Dzria. When I met her she was on the street chopping firewood. She said 400 of the 1,000 Georgians living in Perevi had fled.

Georgians are building houses for refugees from South Ossetia

Schools have closed and a curfew has been imposed. She said gunmen patrolled the streets and intimidated people at random.

"I've sent my grandchildren away," Marina told me. "What is the point of keeping them here if the school is closed?"

She refuses to leave. "If I go will they not take my house? What if I were to come back and found all my possessions gone?"

The European Union Monitoring Mission, whose 225 monitors have been in Georgia since 1 October, to patrol the so-called buffer zones around the regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, is keeping a close eye on the situation around Perevi.

A mission spokesman noted that the presence of the militia was a violation of Georgian sovereignty. He said he feared an escalation of tension.

The EU wants its observers to have access to the breakaway regions, but Russia has repeatedly refused to guarantee that.

Western leaders have condemned the presence of Russian troops in Georgian areas - both in the buffer zones, where Russian troops were present until mid-October, and in the breakaway regions themselves, where Russia is maintaining nearly 8,000 troops.

They have also condemned Russia's recognition of the two regions as independent states.

Russia says it intervened to protect Russian citizens in South Ossetia and Abkhazia, and that Georgia's conduct meant it forfeited any claim to sovereignty over them.

Mutual accusations

When I approached the Perevi checkpoint, three gunmen, dressed in military fatigues, prevented me from entering the village.

As I approached, they were sitting by a small campfire, laughing and talking.

"We're here for the security of the people living here," said one of the checkpoint guards, who would not give his name. He said he had come from Tskhinvali, the South Ossetian capital.

Russian forces have mostly pulled back to their former positions

The barricade made it impossible to verify the allegations of intimidation in Perevi, but I could see that residents were being allowed to move freely across the de facto border.

The Georgian government strongly condemns the presence of South Ossetian troops and believes Russia is behind what it calls "ethnic cleansing" and the forcible movement of its people.

The Georgian interior ministry spokesman, Shota Utiashvili, says tension levels on the border are the highest since the conflict. He insists the Russians are behind the South Ossetians' deployment.

"What is the Russian argument?" he asks.

"Is it that South Ossetians are more barbaric than themselves so it's better for them to be there? It's not a conclusive argument. Had the Russians told the South Ossetians to leave, they would have gone in a minute."

Russia has denied accusations of ethnic cleansing, and makes its own claims of atrocities by Georgian forces.

The EU may still be present on the ground, but its top figures are clearly trying to reach accommodation with Russia - announcing this week the resumption of talks on a new partnership deal.

And President Dmitry Medvedev of Russia made it clear that he wants Russia and Europe to speak with one voice at this weekend's G20 summit in Washington - a sign that he wants to push the Georgia conflict into the background.

Although many Georgians in the rural areas are still dealing with the aftermath from the summer conflict, they are not all pinning their hopes on the EU.

When I asked Anna, another resident in the village of Dzria, who she thought could help reduce tension in the area, she said it was not down to the international community, but to her very own president, Mikhail Saakashvili.

"I love him," said Anna. "He's the one who has shown the world what we Georgians can do… and who the Russians really are."