Russia, Georgia trade accusations over spy planeBy MIKE ECKEL – 7 hours ago
MOSCOW (AP) — Tensions between Russia and Georgia escalated Tuesday as both sides traded accusations days after an unmanned Georgian spy plane was shot down as it flew over the breakaway Black Sea region of Abkhazia.
Moscow denied it shot down the spy aircraft and accused Georgia of violating U.N. resolutions by using unmanned planes to spy on Abkhazia.
Georgia claimed Russia was beginning a military buildup and moving to annex the region, which has had de-facto independence from Georgia for more than a decade.
Georgia said video footage recorded by the plane before it was shot down Sunday shows the attacking jet was a Russian MiG-29 — an aircraft Georgia's air force commander said neither Georgia nor Abkhazia has.
Georgia also said radar showed the jet took off from a former Russian air base in Abkhazia and few into Russian air space after shooting down the spy plane.
Russia's Foreign Ministry, however, said the Israeli-made Hermes pilotless plane was shot down by Abkhazian air defenses. Abkhazian officials say it was one of their L-39 jet that brought down the plane.
The ITAR-Tass news agency quoted an unnamed Russian air force official as saying it would absurd to use a MiG fighter jet to shoot down a spy plane: "You could shoot it down with a slingshot. Abkhazia has enough of its own anti-aircraft tools to complete that mission."
But video footage provided by Georgia shows a jet with twin-tail construction_ something that makes MiG jets distinctive from the single-tail construction of the L-39.
Georgia is pressing the United Nations to take up its claims of Russian military aggression in Abkhazia. The U.N. Security Council is scheduled to hold a closed-door meeting Wednesday to discuss Georgia's accusations.
Georgia's Deputy Prime Minister Giorgi Baramidze was in Britain on Tuesday for meetings with lawmakers, officials and media, seeking international repudiation of the weekend incident.
Tensions between the two countries have increased over Abkhazia and another separatist region, South Ossetia. Both have close ties to Moscow and both have been run their own affairs since the early 1990s when fighting with Georgian forces ended.
Russia has tacitly supported the regions' autonomy, granting their residents citizenship, supporting the ruble as the currency of choice and other measures. President Vladimir Putin recently ordered his government to increase cooperation with both regions and lifted trade restrictions for companies doing business there. Those moves have incensed the Georgian leadership.
Russia also is vociferously opposed to Georgia's efforts to join NATO, and has been wary of Georgia's moves to tighten ties with the United States.
Moscow on Tuesday accused Georgia of violating international law.
"The flight taken by a reconnaissance aircraft, which could also be used to direct fire, is a violation of the Moscow agreement on the cease-fire of May 14, 1994, as well as relevant U.N. Security Council resolutions," the Foreign Ministry said.
But Georgia shot back, accusing Russia of beginning an "alarming military build up in the conflict region."
"The recent steps of the Russian Federation are clearly directed toward the annexation of a part of sovereign territory of Georgia," Georgia's Foreign Ministry said in a statement.
Associated Press writers Misha Dzhindzhikhashvili in Tbilisi, Georgia and Ruslan Khasig in Sukhumi, Georgia contributed to this report.
Source
http://ap.google.com/article/ALeqM5gAa5fmFrSvKn0--5w11Uz2FRMpJAD9072K3G0
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