EU Georgia Monitors See Sign Of Russian Pullback

By Matt Robinson

TBILISI - EU ceasefire monitors in Georgia reported the dismantling of a Russian checkpoint near breakaway South Ossetia on Sunday, saying it was the "first open sign" of a promised Russian troop pullback by October 10.

A spokesman with the European Union monitoring mission said the checkpoint was in the Ali region of Georgia, northwest of the town of Gori.

"Monitors have been observing the dismantling of the checkpoint," the spokesman told Reuters. "This is the first open sign," he said, in a reference to the expected Russian troop withdrawal following a five-day war between Russia and Georgia in August.

The regional police chief told Reuters the checkpoint was in the village of Nabakhtevi.

Russia sent forces into Georgia to repel an offensive by Tbilisi to retake South Ossetia from pro-Moscow separatists. Moscow said it would pull back troops by October 10 from "security zones" it established on Georgian territory adjoining South Ossetia and another breakaway region, Abkhazia.

The October 10 deadline was set under a French-brokered ceasefire. The EU deployed an observer mission of more than 200 unarmed monitors on October 1, with the initial task of monitoring the Russian pullback.

The Nabakhtevi checkpoint is west of the main conflict zone, in a region that did not see the displacement of villagers witnessed in the area running directly north of Gori up to the de facto border, where human rights groups say militias and paramilitaries looted and burned Georgian homes.

"POSITIVE STEP" 





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