Rumors of terrorists prevail in Georgia's Pankisi Gorge

Jaba Devdariani 5/29/03

Despite a lack of conclusive evidence, Western nations are becoming increasingly concerned that the al Qaeda terrorist organization has established a base of operations in Georgia's Pankisi Gorge. Georgian security forces have struggled to reestablish the government's authority in the gorge, which has long had a reputation for lawlessness. But officials in Tbilisi insist that no al Qaeda members are in the Pankisi.

Worries about a possible al Qaeda presence in the Pankisi have been stoked by recent terrorist bombings in Morocco and Saudi Arabia. On May 20, ABC News, citing unnamed sources, reported that Osama bin Laden's al Qaeda organization had restored its ability to carry out terrorist attacks, adding that the group's operatives had been training in the Republic of Georgia. Georgian officials categorically denied the report. Security Minister Valeri Khaburdzania described the ABC report as "nothing but conjecture," according to the RIA news agency. [For additional information see the Eurasia Insight archive].

The Pankisi Gorge has long been alleged to be a terrorist haven. Russia maintains that the gorge is used by Chechen militants as a safe haven, from which they launch raids across the Georgian-Russian border into Chechnya. Georgia has admitted that armed Chechens operated in the gorge in the past, but now insists that the militants have been driven from the region. [For additional information see the Eurasia Insight archive].

On May 19, Russian Deputy Prosecutor-General Sergei Fridinsky claimed that up to 700 Chechen militants were still using the Pankisi as a jumping off point for raids into Chechnya. Georgian officials countered that "several dozen criminals" may be "hiding" in the Pankisi, adding that there may be Chechen refugees in the gorge. But "there is no organized militant structure in Pankisi," Georgia's Deputy Security Minister Lasha Natsvlishvili told the Prime-News Agency.

Georgian-Russian tension has risen in recent weeks, following Tbilisi's refusal to extradite three Chechens who were detained near the Georgian-Russian border last summer. The three were armed when taken into Georgian custody. Russian Defense Minister Sergei Ivanov has repeatedly dismissed Tbilisi's assertions about security conditions in the Pankisi. "We should proceed not from statements and promises, but from the need to reinforce the Georgian-Russian border and to prevent guerrillas from coming to us," the Interfax news agency quoted Ivanov as saying May 19.

Georgian National Security Council Secretary Tedo Japaridze has branded reports about the Pankisi's link to Chechen militants and al Qaeda terrorists as "total disinformation." Japaridze hinted during a May 20 interview broadcast by Georgian television that Russia was behind the rumors. "The sources could be different ... but I think I know where this disinformation is being generated. This is being done by agencies and people who do not wish the Pankisi Gorge problem to be resolved," Japaridze said. [For additional information see the Eurasia Insight archive].

Actual proof of an al Qaeda-Pankisi connection is scant. US Secretary of State Colin Powell told the United Nations Security Council in February that an unnamed detainee who belonged to an al Qaeda cell had spelled out the network's European command. Powell cited Fedel Abu Musab al-Zarqawi as the European chief of operations, supposedly based at the time in Iraq. He showed a slide at the Security Council session identifying a person named Abu ‘Atiya as the leader of the Pankisi cell. According to Powell, this man "tasked at least nine North African extremists in 2001 to travel to Europe to conduct poison and explosive attacks."

Georgian security services provide little information regarding Abu ‘Atiya or his presence in Pankisi. The Turkish Anatolia news agency reported in July 2002 that the US Central Intelligence Agency warned Turkish authorities of a possible chemical or biological attack against the US and Russian embassies, or the Turkish public. The reports said that a courier might have delivered a cream-like substance to a Georgian citizen in Turkey who used the name Abu Atiya, variously spelled Aby Atiya. Georgian officials have never addressed this report.

While there's no definitive evidence to support claims about an al Qaeda-Pankisi connection, Georgian officials are at the same time hard pressed to disprove the allegations. Tbilisi conducted a security sweep in the gorge last summer that officials claim succeeded in riding the area of militants and terrorists. Nevertheless, the Pankisi retains a reputation for criminality and lawlessness, and reporters who have visited the gorge in 2003 suggest the reach of government forces remains limited. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive].

In recent weeks, Georgia's chronic budget woes have raised the possibility that government security operations in the Pankisi would have to be curtailed. Georgia's deputy National Security Council secretary, Jemal Gakhokidze, sought to downplay such reports in a May 9 interview with Prime-News. "Financial problems do exist, but they cannot impede the continuation of the [Pankisi] operation in any way," Gakhokidze said.

Editor's Note: Jaba Devdariani is a founding director of the United Nations Association of Georgia and Research Director of the UNA's program for applied research.

Posted May 29, 2003 © Eurasianet