For educational purposes:
"Georgia accuses Russia of 'aggression' over drone shooting
TBILISI (AFP) =97 Russia's pro-Kremlin media chastised Black Sea
neighbour Georgia on Tuesday over claims by Tbilisi that Russia had
shot down a Georgian spy plane over one of Georgia's separatist
territories.
"Georgia has again tried to shift the blame for its own internal
headache onto the healthy. And once again it is Georgia's military
spearheading this campaign," commented state newspaper Rossiyskaya
GazetaThe Izvestia newspaper took a similar line, saying that "the
Georgian authorities once again are blaming Moscow for all their
misfortunes."
Izvestia said there were inconsistencies in Georgia's account,
principally an early Georgian denial that one of its drones had been
flying over Abkhazia.
The mass circulation tabloid Komsomolskaya Pravda suggested Georgia
had made up the accusation after Russia moved to partially lift an
economic embargo on the neighbouring state.
Georgia on Monday accused Russia of committing "an unprovoked act of
aggression" after alleging that a Russian fighter jet shot down an
unmanned Georgian aircraft over the weekend.
Moscow immediately denied the claim and Russian President Vladimir
Putin expressed concern to his Georgian counterpart Mikheil
Saakashvili about Georgian military flights over the separatist region
of Abkhazia.
[Concern that Georgian planes fly over Georgian territory !]
In a nationally televised address, Saakashvili accused Russia of "an
unprovoked act of aggression against the sovereign territory of
Georgia."
He said Georgia, a former Soviet republic, had verifiable evidence
that a Russian MiG-29 had shot down a Georgian reconnaissance drone
over Georgian territory on Sunday.
Georgia's allegation came amid spiraling tensions between Moscow and
Tbilisi over Russia's support for rebel separatists in Abkhazia and
another breakaway region, South Ossetia.
In Washington, State Department spokesman Tom Casey said the United
States was "very concerned" and a senior US official said Washington
believed Georgia's claims.
"I think at the moment, it looks pretty clear that what the Georgians
are saying is true," the official said, speaking on condition of
anonymity.
Saakashvili said he had called Putin and during a "difficult
conversation" demanded that Russia end its support for Georgian
separatists and "stop attacks on Georgia."
Russian Air Force Commander Alexander Drobyshevsky denied the attack,
telling the Interfax news agency: "There were no flights on April 20,
when the Georgian aircraft was gunned down. Air force pilots had a day
off."
The Kremlin said that during his conversation with Saakashvili, Putin
had "expressed his perplexity over the fact that the Georgian side is
organising military flights over the conflict zone."
The Kremlin statement did not explicitly deny the incident had taken
place.
Georgia initially denied reports Sunday that rebel forces in its
breakaway region of Abkhazia had shot down an unmanned drone, with
Georgian officials saying the country did not possess the type of
plane. Abkhaz officials previously claimed to have shot down a
Georgian reconnaissance drone on March 18.
But in a statement released late Monday, the Georgian government said
that the Russian plane had "blasted a Georgian unmanned aerial vehicle
(UAV) from Georgian airspace" while it was "conducting routine
surveillance above the breakaway Georgian territory of Abkhazia."
"Radar tracking and video transmitted from the UAV in the moments
before its destruction confirm the details of the attack," the
statement said.
Putin issued a decree last week promising the separatists heightened
support -- a move condemned by Georgia as an attempt at the "de facto
annexation" of the two territories -- after Western nations recognized
Kosovo's February declaration of independence from Serbia, which
Moscow opposes.
Georgian Foreign Minister David Bakradze left Tbilisi Monday for the
United States, where he was to press Georgia's case with senior
officials in Washington and at the UN in New York.
The 15 members of the UN Security Council will hold a private meeting
with Bakradze on Wednesday, diplomats said Monday "
http://afp.google.com/article/ALeqM5hir6dH1g5GALAqwyrFxdY_0gSoZQ
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