Tuesday, February 14, 2012

Georgia

Georgia Sends More Troops To Iraq

The new troops will more than double Georgia's contingent in Iraq (file) (ITAR-TASS)

TBILISI, July 20, 2007 (RFE/RL) -- Georgia has sent the first of an extra 1,300 troops to Iraq.

Georgian Parliament Approves Troop Increase In Iraq

TEXT SIZE - +

July 20, 2007

The soldiers left for Kuwait today, where they will undergo a three-week training course for a peacekeeping mission in Iraq.

The soldiers will then be transferred to Iraqi city of Al-Kut, the capital of eastern Wasit Governorate, which borders Iran.

Tbilisi's Deputy Defense Minister Batu Kutelia told RFE/RL's Georgian Service the troops would be tasked with fighting arms smuggling in the region.

Georgia's parliament approved the troop increase last month in a move that more than doubled the contingent's size.

Georgia already has around 850 soldiers in Iraq. They are currently serving in Baghdad and Ba'qubah, but will also be sent to Al-Kut.

RFE/RL Caucasus Report

SUBSCRIBE For weekly news and in-depth analysis on Armenia, Azerbaijan, Georgia, and Russia's North Caucasus by e-mail, subscribe to "RFE/RL Caucasus Report."

President Serzh Sarkisian has promised fair elections

Prospect Of Vote-Rigging Overshadows Upcoming Armenian Parliamentary Election

The Armenian parliamentary elections due in May will not simply be a struggle between rival political parties with diverging priorities and platforms. More

Alla Dzhioyeva attends a protest by her supporters in Tskhinvali on January 28.

South Ossetian Opposition Leader Hospitalized After Raid

Alla Dzhioyeva, the opposition candidate whose victory in a runoff ballot in November for de facto president of Georgia's breakaway region of South Ossetia was swiftly annulled by the republic's Supreme Court, was taken to a hospital after a raid by some 200 masked security personnel on her headquarters in Tskhinvali. More

Former KGB head Leonid Tibilov is a presidential hopeful.

Repeat South Ossetian Election Campaign Gathers Momentum

The run-up to the repeat election on March 24 for a new de facto president of Georgia's breakaway Republic of South Ossetia bears an uncanny resemblance to last November's election campaign. More