Friday, August 17, 2007, #157 (1424)

News in Brief

Russia withdraws more military equipment from Batumi
The withdrawal of Russian military equipment from Georgia continues. A division from the 12th Russian military base left Batumi for Armenia.
The Russian side plans to withdraw another division from Georgia by the end of August.
The 12th Russian military base in Batumi will be withdrawn by 2008 based on an agreement signed between Russia and Georgia.
(Prime News)

Trace radiation found at military base in Akhalkalaki
Radiation was detected at the military base in Akhalkalaki.
The Ministry of Defense sent a group of specialists to Akhalkalaki to determine the threat level, but preliminary reports say the radiation level is not harmful.
The former Russian military base in Akhalkalaki is situated near local settlements. It was handed over to the Georgia Ministry of Defense this year.
(Prime News)

Georgian delegation to monitor Kazakhstan election
Emzar Pazhava, a member of the Central Election Commission of Georgia (CEC), and Avtandil Tsirekidze, head of the information department, will go to Kazakhstan for the upcoming parliamentary elections there.
The Georgian delegation was to leave for Kazakhstan on August 16. They help monitor the parliamentary and local government elections scheduled for August 18.
(Prime News)

Next session for state South Ossetia commission in two weeks
The third session of the state commission on status determination for South Ossetia will be held in two weeks.
Prime Minister Zurab Noghaideli said at the Wednesday government session that he would like working groups to have time to elaborate concrete proposals.
The commission, headed by Noghaideli, was established last month.
(Prime News)

MP: Curfew in Racha
An unofficial curfew has been announced in the Oni and Ambrolauri districts of the mountainous region of Racha, MP Mamuka Katsitadze of the opposition New Rights party said on August 15.
Katsitadze said that members of special purpose units in masks had appeared in the district centers and villages of Racha. According to him, they are terrorizing locals and banning them from coming into the streets after 22:00.
"The local administrations of Oni and Ambrolauri districts say nothing special is happening. And representatives of law enforcement structures in these districts state that they are providing preventive measures," Katsitadze said.
(Black Sea Press)

NATO event in Batumi
On August 15, the NATO information center in Batumi held an event called "26 States for One-This Is NATO." The action was aimed at informing Georgians about NATO, said Nanuka Zhorzholiani, head of the NATO information center.
"This is a quite original way of informing the population about NATO. Simply put, this is a unity of strong states," Zhorzholiani said.
As part of the event, a demonstration was held in Batumi where students distributed information booklets to citizens. Booklets were also dropped from a helicopter.
The NATO information center event wrapped up with a solo concert from Georgian singer Nato Gelashvili.
There are NATO information center in the provinces of Adjara, Imereti and Kakheti, as well as one in Tbilisi-controlled upper Kodori Gorge in Abkhazia. There are plans to open up more branches throughout the country.
(Black Sea Press)


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