Interior Minister Says No Al-Qaeda Fighters in Pankisi

(Tbilisi, May 8, 2003. Civil Georgia) – Georgian Interior Minister Koba Narchemashvili denied statement of his French counterpart that the Al-Qaeda fighters moved to Chechnya and Georgia.

“It would be better if our western counterparts hold consultations with us, before making this kind of statement, which misleads the international society,” Koba Narchemashvili said at the special news briefing today.

He said that there are no Chechen or Arab fighters harboring in Pankisi gorge, as the Georgian law enforcers held a successful anti-crime operation in the gorge last year.

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