File photo shows Russian peacekeeping troops guarding a road at Lata settlement in the Kodori Gorge, Abkhazia.

Tensions between Georgia and Russia got a jolt Thursday when a news agency quoted the head of the Russian air force as saying he favored putting military bases in a breakaway region of this former Soviet republic.
Georgia’s government warned that such a move in the separatist Abkhazia region would violate international law. But the top general in the Russian military quickly sought to tamp down the uproar, saying he knew of no such plan, AP reported.
Officials in Moscow and Tbilisi accuse each other of preparing for aggression in Abkhazia, and concerns are high that even a small incident could touch off new fighting in the region that has been ruling itself since a 1990s secessionist war.
On Thursday, a day after the president of Abkhazia’s separatist administration called for Russia to sign a military treaty with the region, the Russian air force chief, General Alexander Zelin was quoted as saying he approved of the idea of having a full-fledged base in Abkhazia.
“If a political decision is made on this score, this would be to the benefit of fulfilling the tasks of air defense,“ Zelin was quoted as saying by the Russian news agency RIA Novosti.
Georgia’s Foreign Ministry denounced the comment as ’irresponsible’.
“Abkhazia is an inalienable part of Georgia, and such plans by Russia to establish a military base in the region would contradict universally recognized norms and principles of international law and threaten international peace and security,“ the ministry said.
The chief the Russian military’s General Staff, General Yuri Baluyevsky, then cast doubt on Zelin’s statement, saying he had not heard of any plan to put a Russian base in Abkhazia, RIA Novosti reported.
Russia does not formally recognize Abkhazia’s separatist government, but it has close ties with the region and has granted passports to most of its residents. Russia also had peacekeeping troops there under a ceasefire from the secession war.
Georgia claims the troops side with the separatists and is angry Russia has boosted its force, claiming it must protect Russian citizens from what it alleges is a Georgian plan to seize control of Abkhazia by force. Georgia charges that Russia is preparing to annex Abkhazia.
Tensions heated up notably this year after NATO promised Georgia eventual membership in the alliance. Russia regards Georgia as part of its traditional sphere of influence and vehemently opposes it joining NATO.
Aiding Rebels, Employing Spies
Russia’s domestic spy service on Friday accused Georgia of supporting armed rebels in southern Russia, an accusation that could further damage the strained relations between the two countries.
Russia’s FSB security service said it has intercepted a spy working for Georgia and prevented him from helping rebels in southern Russia, Interfax news agency reported on Friday.
“This confirms that Georgian special forces have participated in subversive terrorist activities in the North Caucasus“.
The FSB’s claim surfaced just as a Georgian minister was to meet officials from Russia’s Foreign Ministry in Moscow to discuss how to repair relations.
A Georgian government spokesman in Tbilisi denied the FSB’s accusation, saying: “It’s another lie and another provocation from the Russian side.“
Russia has repeatedly said Georgia turns a blind eye to rebels on its territory who plot attacks in the turbulent north Caucasus region, where Russian soldiers have fought two wars since 1994 against rebels in Chechnya.

Venezuelan President Hugo Chavez vehemently denounced Interpol’s conclusion that documents detailing links between Venezuela and Colombia’s leftist rebels came directly from rebel computers and weren’t tampered with by the Colombians.
Chavez said a “clown show“ surrounded the announcement by Interpol’s Secretary General Ronald Noble that the agency found no evidence of tampering with the documents in computers that Colombia said it retrieved from a rebel camp in Ecuador, AP reported.
Noble also said Interpol is “absolutely certain that the computer exhibits that our experts examined came from a FARC terrorist camp.“
Chavez called Noble “a tremendous actor“ and “an immoral police officer who applauds killers“--referring to Colombia’s March 1 military attack on the Ecuadorian base that killed rebel leader Raul Reyes and 24 others.

Barack Obama accused President George W. Bush of “a false political attack“ yesterday after Bush warned in Israel against appeasing terrorists -- early salvos in a general election campaign that’s already blazing.
The White House denied that Bush’s remark was aimed at Obama. But in short order, the controversy spilled across the presidential campaign.
“George Bush knows that I have never supported engagement with terrorists, and the president’s extraordinary politicization of foreign policy and the politics of fear do nothing to secure the American people or our ally Israel,“ Obama said in a statement his aides distributed, AP reported.
John McCain, the likely GOP nominee, jumped in, too, using the opportunity to argue that Obama was showing “naivete and inexperience and lack of judgment“ in his willingness to meet with US foes.
With the president abroad and those seeking to succeed him campaigning at home, the transcontinental tiff signaled the early direction of the general election.

A US military court has jailed a marine for three years for sexually abusing a 14-year-old Japanese girl on the southern island of Okinawa.
Staff Sgt Tyrone Hadnott, 38, pleaded guilty to assaulting the girl in his car in February, BBC reported.
But he was cleared of rape and other charges, including kidnapping through luring, military officials said. The case caused widespread anger in Okinawa, where there are tensions over America’s large military presence.
Hadnott had admitted forcibly kissing the girl, but denied allegations he raped her in a car park. He said he did not know she was under age.
The incident led to protests in Okinawa, where it revived bitter memories of the 1995 gang rape of a 12-year-old girl on the island by American soldiers.
The US ambassador apologized to the people of Okinawa, while the US military imposed a curfew on all personnel and their families.
Hadnott was not indicted by Japanese prosecutors because the girl decided not to file charges.
But US military officials charged him with a series of offences. He has also been dishonorably discharged from the US military.

The Dalai Lama arrived on Thursday for a five-day tour of Germany, where his last visit sent German-Chinese relations into a spiral.
This time, the exiled Tibetan spiritual leader will not be meeting with Chancellor Angela Merkel, who is on a trip to Latin America.
Instead, his trip is largely a speaking tour sprinkled with meetings with politicians. He plans to give four lectures in Nuremberg, Bamberg, Bochum and Moenchengladbach and a final speech Monday in front of Berlin’s Brandenburg Gate.
Upon his arrival in Germany, the Dalai Lama reiterated that what he sought was “real autonomy“ for Tibet and suggested that his land and China shared a “universal heritage.“
“We are not seeking independence,“ he said at a news conference with Koch.
China says Tibet has been its territory for centuries, but many Tibetans say they have been effectively independent for most of that period.
Dalai Lama’s visit to Germany comes after China held informal talks with his representatives about the crackdown in Tibet.