Georgia Denies Presence of Al Qaeda Terrorists in Pankisi

(Tbilisi, September 7, 2002, Civil Georgia) – Georgian Interior Minister Koba Narchemashvili stated on September 6 at the CIS Interior Ministerial summit in Baku that Georgian law enforcers do not confirm presence of Al Qaeda terrorists in Pankisi gorge.

He did not ruled out that the persons linked to the international terrorist organizations could have been in Pankisi.

Georgian Interior Minister hailed the on-going anti-criminal operation in Pankisi and said that Georgia is able to solve the problem independently. Koba Narchemashvili categorically ruled out possibility of conducting Georgian-Russian joint anti-terrorist operation in the troubled gorge.