Russia claims Georgian army wanted to poison water in Tskhinval

MOSCOW, August 6 (Itar-Tass) - Russian investigators have found proof
that the Georgian troops planned to poison water supply systems in the
South Ossetian capital of Tskhinval and flood the basements where the
local residents were hiding during the August 2008 aggression against
South Ossetia. The findings are to be published by the Russian daily
Rossiyskaya Gazeta in an article titled 'Saakashvili is Being Summoned to
Court' on Thursday.
The newspaper compares methods that were used by the Georgian army
during the aggression to fascist punitive operations during World War II.
"The aggressors destroyed entire populated areas. Seventeen thousand
Georgian servicemen, 100 tanks, 70 armored vehicles, 110 artillery guns
and 30 valley fire systems took part in the assault," Rossiyskaya Gazeta
writes.
"While investigating in the territory of the Georgian enclave of
Achabeti in the Tskhinval region investigators found a plan of an
operation designed to poison the water supply system in Tskhinval,"
Rossiyskaya Gazeta goes on to say.
"Massive artillery shelling forced civilians to hide in the basements
of their homes. The criminal case has evidence that the Georgian military
tried to flood those basements. Witnesses in Tskhinval say that the
Georgian troops purposefully hurled grenades into the basements. The
materials of the criminal case also have numerous evidence that the
Georgian army intentionally killed civilians: they were run down by
Georgian tanks," the daily said.
It recalls that prior to the attack on South Ossetia the peacekeeping
contingent in South Ossetia included a Russian and a Georgian battalion.
"But on August 8 the peacekeepers of this Georgian battalion opened fire
at the Russian peacekeepers. They shot in the back of their colleagues. As
a result, ten Russian servicemen were killed and forty were wounded. A
total of 67 Russian servicemen died in that war," Rossiyskaya Gazeta
writes.
The newspaper says that 5,315 people suffered from the actions of
Georgian servicemen during an operation cynically called 'were hurt by
Georgian servicemen during the Operation Clean Field.
"The investigators also based their conclusions on materials which the
Georgian army left during its retreat. There is plenty of information here
- more than 600 documents in the Georgian language, detailed air
photographs of the terrain and topographic maps with identification of the
tactical situation, staff and military plans and orders. All this proves
that the Georgian side had thoroughly prepared for the attack in advance,"
Rossiyskaya Gazeta goes on to say.
These documents show that 655 South Ossetia homes were burnt or
completely destroyed. Heavy shelling forced more than 36,000 residents of
South Ossetia, predominantly old people, women and children, to become
refugees (the population of South Ossetia is about 50,000 people).
The Russian newspaper writes that the investigation established who of
the Georgian military and political leaders had ordered to destroy
residential areas and civil facilities by using forbidden means and
methods of war conduct. Thus, fragments of rocket projectiles with cluster
warheads were found in the Pris village in the Tskhinval region. Their use
in residential areas is strictly forbidden under the 1980 Geneva
Convention.
Russian Emergencies Ministry experts removed 3,078 mines and
ammunition, including two 500-kilogarm-air bombs, in the populated areas
of Khetagurovo and Dzhava, which had been shelled, bombed and invaded by
the Georgian army.


.Uzbek leader to attend the launch of Turkmenistan-China gas pipeline.

ASHGABAD, August 6 (Itar-Tass) - Turkmen President Gurbanguly
Berdymukhamedov invited Uzbek President Islam Karimov to attend the
launching of a Turkmenistan-China gas pipeline in a telephone conversation
on Wednesday, the Turkmen president's press service reports.
Islam Karimov accepted the invitation. He said that the gas pipeline
was a symbol of friendship and cooperation between the two neighboring
peoples.
Earlier, official Ashgabad said that the gas pipeline would be
launched in late December 2009. This date is also mentioned in the first
inter-governmental agreement, which Turkmenistan and China reached in
April 2006. It provided for the annual supply of 230 billion cubic meters
of Turkmen gas to China for 30 years. In 2008, the Turkmen and Chinese
leaders agreed to increase the deliveries up to 40 billion cubic meters.
The Russian company "Strojtransgaz" is building a 188-km-long Turkmen
section of the gas pipeline to China. The first stage of the
Turkmenistan-Uzbekistan-Kazakhstan-China gas pipeline is to service only
the Turkmen flow of natural gas.

-0-fil/