Police in South Ossetia ordered to open fire
source: http://www.iht.com/articles/ap/2008/10/19/europe/EU-Georgia-Russia.php
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MOSCOW: Police in South Ossetia have been ordered to shoot back if they come under fire — a directive that increases the threat of new violence between Georgia and the Russian-backed separatist region.
South Ossetia's top police official issued the order after a police post came under automatic weapons fire Saturday from the ethnic Georgian village of Nikozi, the separatist government said.
Acting Interior Minister Mikhail Mindzayev said no one was hurt by the gunfire, which he called a provocation by Georgian forces.
"We will not allow our people and our officers to be killed," Mindzayev said in a statement.
Georgian Interior Ministry spokesman Shota Utiashvili denied that Georgian forces fired at a South Ossetian post and said Nikozi came under fire early Saturday from South Ossetian-controlled territory.
A visiting U.S. diplomat toured Nikozi and other villages Sunday in Georgian territory outside South Ossetia, where residents have been returning after Russian troops withdrew earlier this month. Many homes in the area have been looted or burned, damage that Georgians blame on South Ossetians.
The visit by Daniel Fried, the assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian Affairs, was the latest show of U.S. support for Georgia.
South Ossetia's top police official issued the order after a police post came under automatic weapons fire Saturday from the ethnic Georgian village of Nikozi, the separatist government said.
Acting Interior Minister Mikhail Mindzayev said no one was hurt by the gunfire, which he called a provocation by Georgian forces.
"We will not allow our people and our officers to be killed," Mindzayev said in a statement.
Georgian Interior Ministry spokesman Shota Utiashvili denied that Georgian forces fired at a South Ossetian post and said Nikozi came under fire early Saturday from South Ossetian-controlled territory.
A visiting U.S. diplomat toured Nikozi and other villages Sunday in Georgian territory outside South Ossetia, where residents have been returning after Russian troops withdrew earlier this month. Many homes in the area have been looted or burned, damage that Georgians blame on South Ossetians.
The visit by Daniel Fried, the assistant secretary of state for European and Eurasian Affairs, was the latest show of U.S. support for Georgia.
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