Georgian propaganda continues

The Georgian authorities have issued another statement in an attempt to whitewash the actions of Tbilisi which, in fact, encourages international terrorists and incites them to attack Russia. Tbilisi has declared its readiness to conduct a joint Russian-Georgian investigation "to find out whether Chechen militants really cross Georgian-Russian border", said Georgian Foreign Ministry's official representative Kakha Sikharulidze at a press conference on Friday.

The Georgian diplomat has said about Tbilisi's "readiness" to co-operate with Russia, implying however that only information exchange is dealt with, not a joint operation against the gunmen. "As for those people who launched the war against Russia's central authorities quite long ago, Georgia cannot remove this problem," he said.

On Thursday, the Galashki village in Russia's Ingushetia was attacked by about 200 Chechen terrorists and foreign mercenaries, who had intruded Russia from Georgia's Pankisi gorge. Some 40 bandits were killed in the combat and several captured. The military operation is going on.

According to presidential aide Sergei Yastrzhembsky, the armed group intruded Russia from Georgia, which has been confirmed by the captured gunmen. They said they had been trained in camps in the Pankisi gorge. According to the gunmen's evidence, some 100 other militants are on the Russian-Georgian border, ready to invade Russia.