Gori residents search for reasons behind recent car-bombing

Theresa Freese 2/04/05

As various theories circulate about who carried out a devastating car-bombing in the city of Gori, local residents express concern that the attack, followed by with the shocking death of Prime Minister Zurab Zhvania, could be a harbinger of broader instability and violence.

A day after the attack, which left at least three police officers dead and at least 27 severely injured, debris remained scattered across a 500-meter radius outside the state security headquarters in Gori, the administrative center of the Shida Kartli region, near the border of the separatist region of South Ossetia. Officials estimate that an automobile was packed with roughly 100 kilograms of explosives when it detonated on February 1, creating a crater roughly 10-feet-by-6-feet.

"People are scared and shocked" said one woman, who wished to remain anonymous. "My son was walking by the police station when it happened. He saw people lose their legs and hands. He watched people lose their lives."

President Mikheil Saakashvili quickly labeled the attack the work of terrorists, but urged restraint as investigators sought to uncover clues that could shed light on the identity of the perpetrators. He called on citizens to resist the temptation to jump to conclusions, explaining that "this is just what the organizers of this terrorist act want."

At the same time, Saakashvili alluded to the possible involvement of South Ossetian and Russian operatives, hinting that they sought to scuttle a peace plan for the breakaway region that the president had unveiled at the Parliamentary Assembly of the Council of Europe just days earlier. "We should also understand that we must not let these enemies of peace thwart the peace process and obstruct the settlement process," he said.

South Ossetian and Russian authorities vigorously denied involvement. But a significant number of Gori residents, including officials, believe there is a South Ossetian and Russian connection to the bombing.

"It was planned outside of Georgia's borders, but the executioners might have been Ossetian," a national official explained, speaking on condition of anonymity. He hinted that there existed evidence from the bomb site to support such a conclusion. When I asked if he meant Russians, he responded, "of course."

A teacher at Secondary School No 8, situated above the blast site, assigned greater blame to Russians than to South Ossetians – but believed the two organized the attack together. "We have been living under Russian terror for years," he said. Many Georgians believe that Russia will go to extreme lengths to retain its geopolitical influence in Georgia, which, under the Saakashvili administration, has made integration with Western economic and security structures a top policy priority. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive]. Some believe Russia seeks to exacerbate Georgian-Ossetian tensions in order to provide Moscow with a pretext to prolong its peacekeeping presence in the area.

Ia Tinikashvili, an Imedi television correspondent who covers Shida Kartli, said another popular theory was that the bombing was an assassination attempt against the local police chief, Aleko Sukhitashvili, who was not hurt in the blast. "He is just one of a few who are responsible for the conflict zone and conflict resolution issues," Tinikashvili said.

Some in Gori believe the bombing could be linked to organized criminal activity, as local law enforcement authorities, including Sukhitashvili, have acted forcefully in recent months to disrupt smuggling operations that reportedly moved Russian contraband into Georgia, via South Ossetia. Many in Gori believe that the anti-smuggling effort was a major factor in the brief resumption of hostilities between Georgian and South Ossetian forces last summer. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive].

In addition, Tinikashvili added that Sukhitashvili might have been targeted for his role in the January 19 arrest of Alik Pukhaev, locally known as a "famous Ossetian criminal." Pukhaev was taken into custody on charges of murdering two ethnic Georgians in South Ossetia. "When Pukhaev was arrested, Sukhitashvili brought Alik to the Gori police station in his own car," she said. "Ossetians would have watched all of this on television."

Pukhaev's arrest prompted retaliation by Ossetians, who kidnapped two Georgian law enforcement officials, including Lado Chulauri, chief of police of Georgian villages in South Ossetia. Tensions in the area then rapidly escalated before a deal was negotiated to secure the release of the Georgian officers in return to Pukhaev's transfer into custody of the Russian-led Joint Control Commission, which is charged with keeping the peace in the region.

Many Gori residents worry that the car-bombing marks the start of another round of violence. Marina, a mother of two whose children attend School No. 8, said she was keeping her daughters out of school and close to home. "It's too dangerous now. Maybe in three or four days." The day after the attack, roughly 30 percent of the students did not show up at school, the teacher at School No. 8 estimated.

Worries in Gori only deepened when residents heard about Zhvania's death. [For background see the Eurasia Insight archive]. Officials in Tbilisi insist Zhvania died in a case of accidental carbon-monoxide poisoning. But the fact that the death came less than 24 hours after the car-bombing prompted many Georgians to wonder if the two developments were somehow related.

Some political analysts characterized Zhvania as perhaps the leading voice of moderation in the Georgian cabinet on the issue of reestablishing Tbilisi's control over the separatist territories of South Ossetia and Abkhazia. Georgian policy toward the two regions may soon become more confrontational, the analysts suggested. Any aggressive action would stand to embroil residents of Gori in the conflict between the central Georgian government and the separatist leadership in South Ossetia.

Editor's Note: Theresa Freese is a freelance journalist and political analyst who has been conducting research on unresolved conflicts in the south Caucasus since September 2003.