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Terror Networks
Al-Qaeda and Talibs popping up in Georgia
2002-02-16
  • Dozens of al-Qaida and Taliban fighters have moved into the post-Soviet state of Georgia. Russian intelligence sources said that Pakistani, Arab and Pashtun Taliban fighters had recently sought refuge in the Pankisi Gorge in northern Georgia, close to the border with Chechnya. The senior US diplomat in Tbilisi said Washington wanted to train counter-terrorist forces in Georgia to tackle the problem.

    In an interview with a Georgian newspaper this week, the US chargé d'affaires in Tbilisi, Philip Remler, said that scores of al-Qaida and Taliban fighters had scattered across the Caucasus. The Russians have long maintained that the Pankisi Gorge, an area where the Tbilisi government's writ does not run, is a vital corridor for Chechen rebel fighters and foreign Islamists infiltrating Chechnya to the north to fight the Russians.

    "As for al-Qaida, according to our information, several tens of Mojahedin fled from Afghanistan and are now hiding in the Caucasus," he said. "We are also aware that some of them are hiding in the Pankisi Gorge and are in contact with Al-Khattab, an Arab terrorist. The latter, for his part, is connected with Osama bin Laden. The Pankisi Gorge is an extremely dangerous place for Georgia."

    Khattab is a prominent Arab mercenary and warlord, intimately involved in the war in Chechnya against the Russians for the past two-and-a-half years. Although usually described as a Jordanian, Khattab, according to Russian intelligence, is a Saudi-born militant and millionaire who trained with Bin Laden in the early 90s in Pakistan and Afghanistan.
    Khattab seems to be a second line, running in parallel to al-Qaeda, rather than being affiliated with it. Chechnya, Dagestan, Ingushetia, and Azerbaijan/Armenia are likely destinations.
    • Posted by:Fred Pruitt

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