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| The puropose of Richar Miles’ statement remains unclear. |
On September 13, US Ambassador Richard Miles unexpectedly stated that a “few international terrorists” are still present near Georgia’s north-eastern mountainous Pankisi gorge, which lies on the Russian border. The statement was later denied by the spokesperson for the U.S. Department of State, thus it caused some confusion among the Georgian officials.
Speaking at a joint news briefing with Georgian Interior Minister Irakli Okruashvili on September 13, Richard Miles surprised reporters by his critical remarks towards the Georgian government on the Pankisi gorge issue.
Ambassador Miles stated that there are “some arguments” with the Georgian side over this issue. “I don’t want to get into that big argument here today, but the short answer is yes, there are still a few international terrorists in the vicinity of the Pankisi Gorge,” Ambassador Miles said, while answering journalist’s question whether there are terrorists in Pankisi.
The U.S. Ambassador’s statement dealt a diplomatic blow to the Georgian officials, which maintain that following an anti-criminal operation that started in 2002 in the gorge cleansed that location of Chechen fighters and foreigners suspected of terrorism links. The sensitivity of Tbilisi to the statement increased in light of Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov’s announcements made earlier last week, in which he linked the North Ossetian hostage tragedy and Georgia. In the wake of this statement the Russian media speculated that one of the terrorist suspects, allegedly behind the hostage-taking in the Beslan School, is hiding in Kodori gorge, which is the only territory in breakaway Abkhazia under the Georgian authorities’ control.
Initial reaction by Georgian officials to Ambassador Miles’s statement was that of shock and disbelief. When asked to comment, Nino Burjanadze, the Georgian Parliamentary Chairperson, said, “[Richard Miles] could not have said this.”
“There are no terrorists in Georgia, this is absurd,” Givi Targamadze, Chairman of the Parliamentary Committee for Defense and Security, responded.
Disbelief gave way to suspicion among the Georgian leadership after the U.S. Embassy in Georgia officially posted the transcript of Richard Miles’ statement on its web-site. At this point, Georgian officials were refusing to comment to the press. The U.S. Ambassador was summoned by the Georgian Prime Minister Zurab Zhvania. After meeting with Zhvania, Ambassador Miles said the United States was working with Georgian security forces to find the remaining rebels in Pankisi, Reuters reported.
Later on the same day, September 13, the U.S. Department of State issued a statement saying that Pankisi gorge “is no longer a haven for terrorists,” but added that the U.S. will continue its cooperation with Georgia in combating terrorism in the region.
According to the statement, U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage spoke with Georgian Prime Minister Zurab Zhvania on September 13 to discuss counter-terrorism cooperation between the United States and Georgia.
“The United States reaffirmed its commitment to working with the governments of Georgia and Russia to combat terrorism in the region. The United States is proud to have been part of the Train and Equip Program. We have also contributed $47 million over the past three years to the Georgian Border Guard and Coast Guard in support of Georgian border security and law enforcement. As a result of programs like these, the Pankisi Gorge is no longer a haven for terrorists,” the U.S. Department of State’s statement reads.
The mentioned U.S.-funded Georgia Train and Equip Program (GTEP) was launched in May, 2002, just a few months after a statement was made by then acting U.S. Ambassador to Georgia Philip Ramler, which stated that there were foreign mercenaries with alleged links to international terrorist groups operating in the Pankisi Gorge.
“A few dozen mujahideen fighters from Afghanistan have appeared in the Caucasus region. … We know that several mujahideen have taken cover in the Pankisi Gorge and are in contact with the Arab terrorist Khattab, who in turn has contacts with Osama bin Laden,” Philip Remler said in an interview to the Georgian newspaper Akhali Versia (the New Version) published on February 11, 2002.
Like the statement of Richard Miles, the announcement of his predecessor Philip Remler two years ago came as a surprise to the Georgian authorities. Despite earlier claims by President Eduard Shevardnadze to the contrary, the President was forced to launch an anti-criminal operation under pressure from the US administration.
It remains unclear whether U.S. Ambassador Richard Miles’ statement would have similar long-term effects. The immediate statement by the US State Department, which falls only slightly short of disavowing the Ambassadors statement, may indicate it was only a slip of the tongue. Whatever the reason, Ambassador Miles has given some additional grey hairs to the top Georgian leadership.
Media Silence over ‘Shocking News’
The news value of Ambassador Richard Miles’ statement on September 13 was immense, owing to its surprising nature, and its possible implications. It was destined to make headlines in the Georgian TV news programs on September 13, but surprisingly, it did not. The leading Georgian media sources, usually quick to pick on a sensational story hushed the statement. This hints at a completely new media environment.
The news about the U.S. Ambassador’s statement broke at 3 pm local time, when Tbilisi-based Imedi radio station quoted Richard Miles regarding the Pankisi gorge. However, the news was not repeated again on September 13, despite the fact that Imedi radio station runs a news program every half-hour.
The top news story run on every leading Georgian TV station on September 13 was instead in regards to a special cabinet session in Russia, convened by President Vladimir Putin. The leading Georgian television station, Rustavi 2, did not even mention the U.S. Ambassador’s statement during its prime-time news program Courier.
At the same time, on September 14 the Georgian media widely covered the statement issued by the U.S. Department of State.
“There was nothing surprising in how the Georgian leading media sources reacted to Miles’ statements. It is a fact that the government controls all of the leading televisions and newspapers. Turning a blind eye on [Ambassador] Miles’ statement by the media was just a clear indication of this fact,” Tbilisi-based political analyst Ia Antadze of RFE/RL told Civil Georgia.
“It was not difficult for the authorities to block the news, which is unfavorable for them. And I can say that the statement by the U.S. Ambassador was really shocking news for the Georgian government,” Ia Antadze added.
MP Davit Gamkrelidze, who leads the Rightist Opposition parliamentary faction, described the reaction by the Georgia media to Ambassador Miles’ statement as “very concerning.”
“The Government’s pressure on media sources is apparent. The televisions were strictly forbidden to make coverage of the U.S. Ambassador’s statement on September 13,” MP Davit Gamkrelidze said at the parliamentary session on September 14.
The initial analysis of the media reaction may not go far enough. In addition to the allegations of direct control, media observers spoke about widely practiced self-censorship of the Georgian media since the Rose Revolution.