South Ossetia to host Russian bases for 99 years

[CougarKing]

So is Russia the only country which recognizes South Ossetia and Abkhazia as independent states?

Somehow, I wouldn't be surprised.

South Ossetia to allow Russian bases for 99 years: report
Agence France-Presse | 03/11/2009 11:43 PM

TBILISI - Georgia's breakaway region of South Ossetia said Wednesday it was prepared to allow Russian forces to use its territory for military bases for up to 99 years, the Interfax news agency reported.

South Ossetian leader Eduard Kokoity said his government had decided "to concede territory to install Russian border guard bases in the republic for 99 years," Interfax reported.

"Territory for the creation of military bases will be conceded, I think, for the same time period," he added.

Kokoity expressed hope that agreements on Russian bases will be signed "as quickly as possible" so they could then be ratified by the breakaway region's parliament.

Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili meanwhile said Wednesday that Georgia was reorganising its military strategy to focus more on national defence.

"Previously the Georgian armed forces were trained within the framework of international cooperation for peacekeeping purposes... now the Georgian army will be trained to ensure peace in Georgia, so that no one will try again to start a war," he told soldiers in remarks shown live on Rustavi-2 television.

Georgian Defence Minister David Sikharulidze told AFP Friday that the country is planning to revamp its military to boost defence capabilities in order to better defend the country from invasion.

Georgia and Russia remain deeply at odds after a brief war...

(...)

 

[Yrys]

Kidnappings mar uneasy peace in South Ossetia, BBC News, Saturday, 14 March 2009

Abductions disrupt Georgia's peace

Aliko Tsarielashvili had a lucky escape from his kidnappers

Aliko Tsarielashvili stokes the small wood-burning stove in the room where he lives
with his wife and two children. This is how people keep warm in the villages near
the frontier with South Ossetia.

But when Aliko went collecting firewood in late October, he became another victim
of the kidnappings that are breaking the uneasy peace along the ill-defined Administrative
Boundary Line (ABL) between Georgia and its breakaway province.

"'There were several guys with masks and we were detained, we were put on the ground,
then our hands were tied up," he says. "We walked for a while and then a car came, and
we were put in the car and I'm not quite sure where we were taken to.  "Of course I was
afraid because I haven't experienced anything like it before."

The next evening, Aliko and some fellow captives managed to escape during a trip to the
toilet. After fleeing through the woods, he waded across a river to get back to Georgian-
controlled territory. It was a lucky day for Aliko on two counts: he got home to find his
wife had given birth.

But a few days later, nine other men from a neighbouring village were abducted. They
were held for 10 days before being released, and people from Aliko's village are now
very careful just where they go to collect firewood.

One villager tells me they are too frightened to go to the local cemetery, which is just
50m (160 feet) from a South Ossetian checkpoint.


Rest of article on link