Kavkazcenter.com

Emir Dokku Abu Usman orders halt to attacks on civilians

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 10:23:45 GMT

The leader of Russia's Islamic rebels ordered a halt to attacks on civilians, saying mass opposition protests showed the public no longer supported Vladimir Putin, according to a video posted Friday. "I order all special groups that are carrying out or plan to carry out special operations in Russia to put a halt to these operations that could hurt the peaceful population", Dokku Umarov said in a video address posted on the rebel website kavkazcenter.com. "Today's events in Russia have shown us that Russia's peaceful population does not support Putin's Chekist regime and are hostages of a regime that is fighting against Islam in the Caucasus". A "Chekist" is a commonly used term in Russian for an employee of the security services, who are hugely prominent in Russia under Putin who is himself a former KGB agent. His once iron grip on the country has been shaken by a series of mass protests against his rule ahead of March 4 presidential elections where he is seeking a historic third Kremlin term. "If this peaceful population does not take part in the war against Islam, our religion tells us to take care of this peaceful population and not to touch them", said Umarov. "This population definitely does not support Putin", he added. The video showed Umarov -- who over the last years has eluded numerous attempts by Russia on his life -- sitting in khaki fatigues in snow-covered woods flanked by two bearded comrades. He said after the halt on civilian attacks, special operations should be carried out "with precision against the security services, the special services and the reprobate who are officials and are enemies of Allah", he added. Kavkaz Center said that with this "decree" Umarov had "changed the status" of the Russian population. Source: AFP Kavkaz Center

Chechen refugee held naked in punishment cell. He is not allowed to pray and threatened with 'sending right to Chechnya'

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 01:37:05 GMT

The events around the Chechen refugee Emilkhan Sadayev are absolutely unprecedented for Sweden. Swedish authorities actually organized a kind of a personal concentration camp for Sadayev. � According to a source of the KC, Sadayev is held completely naked in a punishment cell (not in an ordinary one). His lawyer is not allowed to visit him. Moreover, Swedish authorities banned any information on the situation around Sadayev or on his whereabouts. Prison guards refused to give back Sadayev his clothes or at least to allow him to pray. � In desperation, Emilkhan Sadayev even inflicted injuries on himself, and he is on a hunger strike for the second day. In response, the police threatened him to "send right to Chechnya" if he does not halt his hunger strike. On February 2 noon, he had to be deported to Russia, but when Sadayev was taken out of deportation prison, he managed to open his veins and he was taken to a hospital. � Swedish authorities do not give any explanation. In fact, Sadayev is kept in a secret prison, like prisoners of al-Qaeda in secret CIA prisons. The reasons of such treatment are not clear, since the whole case of the Chechen refugee is absolutely transparent. � The lawyer of the Chechen refugee said that he was shocked by the actions of Swedish authorities and therefore he intends to sue them. �A few days ago, the lawyer sent made an inquiry with the UNHCR office in Azerbaijan and received documents from it confirming the refugee status of Ruslan Atkayev (Emilkhan Sadayev), but Swedish authorities simply did not include this supporting evidence into his file. Meanwhile a protest action took place in Helsinki in front of the Swedish embassy. Protesters demanded from Swedish authorities to stop immediately the deportation procedure and release Emilkhan Sadayev. Department of Monitoring Kavkaz Center

CE Emir Dokku Abu Usman changes status of Russian population and orders to avoid attacks on civilian targets

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 01:22:56 GMT

Caucasus Emirate's Emir Dokku Abu Usman changed the status of civilian population in Russia and gave order to avoid attacks on civilian targets due to a process of civil protest that began in Russia, and te fact that people no longer accept Putin's policy. � This may mean that the citizens of Russia - among other things - no longer support the barbarous methods of war used in the Caucasus Emirate and authorized by Putin and his clique. � In this case, the civilian population of Russia stays outside the category of aggressor. � This means that the population of Russia has a choice: � - Either to support the regime, or to choose another (new or old) one, which will continue the previous policy in the Caucasus and [in this case] to fall again in the category of aggressor with corresponding consequences, or to act resolutely against the policy of murder and terror perpetrated against innocent civilians in the Caucasus. � In this case, the civilian population of Russia will protect itself from Mujahideen attacks. � This moratorium does not apply to military and political structures of the belligerent state. Likewise, this moratorium does not apply to the belligerent state itself, which will not be safe from attacks of the Mujahideen until a truce. � Dokku Abu Usman made a special statement in this regard. The CE Amir promulgated an order binding for all subdivisions of Mujahideen forces, including special-operation groups operating inside Russia. � Emir Dokku Abu Usman ordered the Mujahideen to attack selective targets in Russia, law enforcement structures, the military, intelligence services and political leadership of Russia. � If, after the promulgation of this order, an attack takes place against civilian targets, then it will be regarded as a provocation from the agonizing KGB regime. Press Service of the Emir of the Caucasus Emirate� Department of Current Information Kavkaz Center

WHITE REVOLUTION. Mikhail Saakashvili predicts Gaddafi's fate for Putin

Fri, 03 Feb 2012 01:20:13 GMT

Georgian president Mikheil Saakashvili who is on visit in the US gave an interview to Foreign Policy, in which he stated that "the Russian government was following the path of the deposed regimes of Hosni Mubarak and Muammar al-Qaddafi and was setting itself up for a fall from power". The Georgian president noted in particular:� "You need to listen to what Russian leaders themselves are saying. They say �We are not Libya, we are not Egypt, Russia will not go down this road'. I heard it from Soviet leaders. And once you start saying those things it becomes a self-fulfilling prophecy, and then you start to do certain things and to not allow certain things, and those are exactly the kind of actions that promote further sliding down this road [toward losing power]. "Unlike Westerners who think in terms of superficial symbols that Putin's returning, the middle class in Moscow knew that he never went away". Speaking about the situation in the South Caucasus, Saakashvili said:� "Two radical different attitudes have emerged, offered by two specific regional powers. On one hand, the Russian Federation reacted with outrage and panic to the Arab Spring and tries to do anything they can to prevent any international support to the democracy movements anywhere. On the other hand, Turkey asserts itself as the model for the post revolutionary countries. On the one hand, the government of Putin desperately tries to hold back the progress of history. On the other hand, the government of Prime Minister [Recep Tayyip] Erdogan tries to embrace the revolutions of the world. Two very different prime ministers. It's not a coincidence that Russian influence is decreasing while Turkish leadership is growing in the region every day". Department of Monitoring Kavkaz Center

Fate of Chechen refugee in Sweden still unknown

Thu, 02 Feb 2012 11:11:16 GMT

Sources from Sweden reported that as of noon of February 2, there are still no details about the fate of the Chechen refugee Emilkhan Sadayev. His phone is still turned off. Sadayev's lawyer is also not available, since he turned off his phones. � Representatives of the Chechen and Caucasian diaspora are worried. Sadayev virtually disappeared. Swedish authorities do not comment on the situation and do not give any information. However, there is no confirmation that Sadayev has been already deported for tortures and death to Russia. � It is to be recalled that Swedish authorities were planning to extradite Emilkhan Sadayev for death to Russia on February 2. On the eve of his extradition, the Chechen refugee was moved by Swedish police in handcuffs to a deportation prison in the town of Mästa, 6.5 km from Arlanda International Airport � Meanwhile, representatives of the Chechen diaspora are still hoping that the deportation of Sadayev could be prevented. According to officially unconfirmed news, a document has been sent to Swedish authorities from the office of the European Union that could help preventing the extradition of Sadayev to Russia. However, there is no complete clarity in the matter. The KC sources also report that representatives of the Chechen and Caucasian diaspora in Finland are going to organize a protest rally in front of the Swedish embassy in Helsinki. Department of Monitoring Kavkaz Center

British BBC under fire for Putin-loving

Thu, 02 Feb 2012 00:54:22 GMT

The Guardian reported on the wave of criticism in Britain in connection with the showing of a 4-hour-long KGB agitation about Putin called "Putin Russia and the West", which the BBC is stuffing for one hour on Thursdays the viewers in Britain. The newspaper notes in particular: "Part three of the series is to be screened on Thursday. But in a scathing review of episode one, the renowned Soviet dissident Vladimir Bukovsky said the film came across as "unequivocally pro-Putin". Its narrative follows the Kremlin's version of history, and resembles nothing less than a party political broadcast for Putin and his United Russia party. Masha Karp, a former editor at the BBC Russian service, complained of "glaring gaps" in the overall narrative, with Putin's savage polices in Chechnya glossed over. Karp, who left her job at the BBC five years ago, said that the documentation looks like the movie "Gaddafi, Libya and the West", interviewing only colonel's cronies and loyal advisers. Karp continues: � "The contrast between the high level of professionalism in the film-making and the lack of understanding of Russia's recent history is striking ... There are dozens of ... deviations from the historical truth, or rather slight distortions ... Taken together these steadily add up to create an image of Putin that will by no means be unpleasant to him, and will be quite useful to those in the west who would like to justify their support for him". The Guardian also draws attention to the fact that the "consultant" for a movie "worked" good a direct agent of Moscow Angus Roxburgh, who had served for 3 years to KGB junta in Russia as an adviser to Putin's speaker Peskov. Roxburgh advised to Putin as how to improve a KGB image of Russia in the west and taught indoctrinate techniques of public opinion outside of Russia. Department of Monitoring Kavkaz Center

Theoretician of Jihad, Sheikh Abu Musab as-Suri, possibly freed in Syria

Thu, 02 Feb 2012 00:28:22 GMT

According to the reports of Spanish and Lebanese media outlets, the Alawite regime of Syria has possibly freed a famous modern teoretician of Jihad movement, Abu Musab al-Suri (Mustafa Setmariam). This is reported in particular by El Pais, which quotes its own sources. It is believed that Abu Musab al-Suri was freed from the Alawite prison at the end of December 2011. Lebanese paper The Daily Star in its article dated 1 February writes that in August last year, the Islamic internet forum Shamikh al-Islam published an information regarding whereabouts of Sheikh al-Suri. It was reported that it was the prison of the Secret Service Headquarters in the area of the capital called Kfra-Susa. "I also have been informed that the Sheikh saw in the past days a vision that he will have an important role in Syria, Bilad Al-Sham [Greater Syria], we ask Allah that it becomes true", it was said in the posting on the forum. About the eliberation of Sheikh Abu Musab as-Suri and his assistant Abu Halid reported Soorzoon.net, a site that belongs to Syrian opposition. According to the analists, freeing of the Sheikh is a simbolical act of the Alawite regime, which attempts to show that it does not intend to continue collaborating with the US in the field of the war with Jihad, but it will deal with this war by itself. � Asad declares that in the Syrian revolution and in the annihilation of Alawite warlords, an active part is played by armed Mujahideen and Syrian jihadists. According to the information published before, including by the analists of the Middle East Institute, al-Qaeda fighters increasingly infiltrate Syria from the neighbouring Iraq. The 54 years old Sheikh Abu Musab al-Suri was born in Syria, but soon fled the county in the aftermath of the bloody supression of the Ikhwan al-Muslimeen uprising in 1982 by the father of today's Alawite boss Bashar Asad - Hafiz Asad. He moved to Spain, where he got married and received citizenship. Sheikh al-Suri became influential as one of the main jihadi thinkers, particularly after he wrote a 1600 pages work called Call to Global Islamic Resistance which was published in 2005. That same year he was arrested by the appostates of Pakistan and subsequently handed over to the US, whose government after some time handed him over to the Syrian Alawites. The analists suppose that in the case Sheikh Abu Musab al-Suri was indeed freed, then it is unlikely he is still in Syria. Apart from the Syrian Alawites, the scholar was also being searched by the occupational powers of al-Andalus (i.e. Spain). He was accused of being implicated in several bombings in this country, namely in the 1985 restaurant El Descanso bombing and in the 11 March 2004 bombings in Madrid. Department of Monitoring Kavkaz Center

Will Sweden become direct accomplice of the murder of Chechen refugee?

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 20:36:25 GMT

According to KC sources in Sweden, Chechen refugee Emilkhan Sadayev was removed from deportation prison in the Swedish town of Flen in handcuffs and transported to an unknown place on Wednesday, February 1.�According to some reports he was taken to deportation prison in Merst. There is no communication with him. His mobile phone is switched off. Previously, it was reported that Swedish authorities plan to extradite the refugee to Russia on February 2. Chechen diaspora is extremely worried. A real danger threatens the life of Emilkhan Sadayev. Refugees call on human rights activists and the European Union to take immediate action and stop the impending murder. During the last few days, protest actions by representatives of Chechen and Caucasian diaspora were held in Stockholm and Flen, where Sadayev was kept in prison. The protesters demanded the release of Chechen refugee and not to extradite him to Russia. Previously, Sadayev turned to Georgian president using Georgian media with a request to grant him political asylum (see the video at this link). According to the sources, Georgian embassy in Sweden received relevant document on Wednesday. *** It is to be recalled that Swedish police arrested Emilkhan Sadayev on 24 January 2012, at 7:00 am, after two years of his waiting for refugee status. Emilkhan Sadayev participated in military operations against Russian occupation forces between 1999 and 2004. As a result, he was seriously wounded in 2004 and was forced to leave Chechnya with his family. Sadayev stayed for some time in Azerbaijan, but after Russia tried to arrest him with the help of local authorities, he was had to move to Turkey and later to Sweden. He has been waiting for more than two years for a decision regarding his status in Sweden. However, on January 24, was suddenly arrested. It is worth mentioning in this connection, that his two brother - Musa and Zelimkhan - were killed in Chechnya by Russian invaders. Their house in the village of Starye Atagi has been blown up by the Russians. For many years, Russia pursued Emilkhan Sadayev for his participation in military operations against the Russian occupation troops. He used documents of another person to enter Sweden, and it became the main formal reason for his detention. However, Emilkhan Sadayev could not travel under his own name, because he had no documents, and he couldn't get them because Russian security services were after him. The threat of deportation of Emilkhan Sadayev to Russia means only that he faces death as a result of severe tortures, as happened with other Chechens deported to Russia from some European countries. And it happened to his brothers who were killed by the Russians to revenge his participation in military operations against the invaders. The current actions of the Swedish authorities raise a number of questions. After entering Sweden, Emilkhan Sadayev admitted that he used documents of another person. And, for more than 2 years, it did not bother the Swedish authorities. What has changed now? There are persistent rumors among Chechen refugees in Sweden about a deal between Sweden and Russia, and that Stockholm is willing to extradite the Chechen refugee to Moscow in exchange for some agreement. Today, it is obvious that if Sweden extradites Sadayev to Russia, he will be sooner or later killed there, and Stockholm will be the directly responsible for the murder. Department of Monitoring Kavkaz Center

Scores killed in Egypt football violence

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 19:42:03 GMT

At least�73 people have been killed in clashes after a football game in the Egyptian city of Port Said, medics say. Hundreds�of others were injured�in Wednesday's violence, including security personnel. At least two players suffered light injuries. Fans of�the winning al-Masry�team flooded the field seconds after the�match with al-Ahly, Egypt's top team, was over. A security official said the fans chased the players and cornered their supporters on the field and around the stadium, throwing stones and bottles at them. Thousands of supporters covered the field,�as seen in a�video posted online. "This is unfortunate and deeply saddening. It is the biggest disaster in Egypt's soccer history,"�Hesham Sheiha, deputy health minister, said. He said most of the injuries were caused by concussion and deep cuts. Al-Ahly football players were trapped in the changing room along with supporters. Riot police were sent in to drive the rival crowds of fans back. Reuters news agency quoted military sources as saying the army sent helicopters to transfer al-Ahly football players and fans from Port Said. The helicopters will transfer the injured to military hospitals. 'War, not football' "This is not football. This is a war and people are dying in front of us. There is no movement and no security and no ambulances," Abo Treika told the Ahly television channel. "This is a horrible situation and today can never be forgotten." State television announced that parliament will hold an emergency session over the violence. State prosecutors ordered an investigation into the pitch invasion and the violence that ensued, Al-Ahly's�supporter club, Ultras, said on their website that they would head to Port Said later in the evening. Al-Masry team won a rare 3-1 against Al-Ahly. The two teams have a long history of bad blood, and clashes have erupted in recent years between their fans. Al Jazeera's Rawya Rageh, reporting from Cairo, said several football games�after the revolution have witnessed violence due to the absence of police forces. "In the�security vacuum that has lasted since the revolution,�the police force has basically disappeared from the street after their notorious performance during the revolution." A�match in Cairo on Wednesday evening was�interrupted following the news of the deaths in Port Said.�Television footage showed�a big fire behind the supporter stand�at the Cairo stadium. The Premier League which the games were part of was suspended indefinitely. Source: Al Jazeera and agencies Kavkaz Center

BBC criticized over KGB-friendly Putin documentary

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 18:43:13 GMT

A BBC documentary on the difficult relationship between Vladimir Putin's Russia and the West has been accused of "bias" by Russian exiles in Britain. Putin, Russia and the West, the four-part series on BBC Two which concludes next week, has been described by Russian dissidents as having a pro-Putin bias, and demonstrating a "lack of understanding of Russia's recent history". In a damning review of the first episode of Putin, Russia and the West, the renowned Soviet dissident Vladimir Bukovsky expressed concern that the documentary had appeared "unequivocally pro-Putin". Bukovsky, who spent 12 years incarcerated in Soviet prisons but has lived in Britain since 1976, alleged that the narrative was "nothing less than a party political broadcast for Putin and his United Russia party". Writing in a blog for Moscow radio station Echo Moskvy, he said: "The documentary makes no attempt to illuminate events critically. It turns out to be an utter apology for Putin and his regime. "Putin appears as a solid public figure, who keeps all his promises (to his Western partners and to Russia's electorate) ...If Putin had asked his propagandists to come up with a film they couldn't have done better." Bukovsky questioned why money from the BBC license fee was spent on the film, and called for a parliamentary inquiry into the series. Putin, Russia and the West includes interviews with many high-profile people, including Colin Powell, Condoleezza Rice, Gerhard Schroder and Putin's defense secretary, Sergei Ivanov. But Putin himself refused to appear. Masha Karp, a former editor at the BBC's own Russian service, noted "glaring gaps" in the depiction of Putin's story, including a lack of focus on his savage approach to Chechnya. She also criticized the series for failing to feature people from Russia's opposition. Karp, who left BBC Russian five years ago, said that the documentary was as though the BBC had made "Gaddafi, Libya and the West", but only interviewed the Colonel's most loyal associates. Department of Monitoring Kavkaz Center

America and France move troops to borders of Iran

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 16:28:18 GMT

America and its allies began to move troops to the Gulf region, according to Western and Zionist news agencies. The troops are sent to the Omani island of Masire, south of the Strait of Hormuz, where is an American air force base is located. � In addition, hundreds of bunker busters which are capable, according to Americans, to destroy fortified underground bunkers, have been brought to the US base on the British island of Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean. As we have previously reported, the board of Gulf Cooperation Council (GCC) has developed an action plan with the use of warships in case of blocking the Strait of Hormuz by Iran. � In addition, it was reported that France is going to send a nuclear aircraft carrier Charles de Gaulle to the Gulf region. Thus, it is expected that at least four American and French aircraft carrier battle groups will be concentrated l in the Persian Gulf in March and April. Currently, only American aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln in is stationed in the Gulf. It is accompanied by a missile cruiser and two American navy destroyers and one ship from British and French navy each. � To the east of the Strait of Hormuz - in northern Arabian Sea on southeast coast of Iran - American aircraft carrier Abraham Lincoln carrier battle group is stationed. It is headed by American navy nuclear aircraft carrier USS Carl Vinson. � In March, one more aircraft carrier battle group headed by nuclear aircraft carrier Enterprise will be sent to the Persian Gulf. Its arrival in the region is expected approximately in April. The group, now based in Norfolk, Va., will include a missile cruiser and three missile destroyers. Department of Monitoring Kavkaz Center

Good tidings of great joy from Chechnya. Hundreds of young Chechens leave for mountains

Wed, 01 Feb 2012 12:38:03 GMT

Good news has come from Chechnya. The KC received information from sources close to Emir Dokku Abu Usman that hundreds of young Chechens left for the mountains to the Mujahideen over the last few months of autumn 2011 and winter 2012. � The sources do not mention the exact figures, but point out that the numbers of newcomers are very high. � Unusual is the fact that the youth joined the Mujahideen during winter cold and snow, while the replenishment of Mujahideen units usually occurred in summer time during the previous years. � The KC sources gave the following example to illustrate the overall picture - in a small foot hill area, where a few years ago the Mujahideen operated from one or two bases (15 to 20 Islamic fighters) , at least 5 new bases have been created over the last three months . � Department of Current Information Kavkaz Center

America claims Assad's fall 'inevitable'

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 16:28:21 GMT

America has said the rule of Alawite regime of Bashar al-Assad in Syria is coming to an end, as Western and Arab nations push for a UN security council resolution. Washington is seeking to convince Russia not to stand in the way of the Arab League's initiative, calling for Assad to transfer power to help resolve the crisis. "Assad's fall is inevitable", Jay Carney, the White house spokesman, claimed on Monday. "As governments make decisions about where they stand on this issue and what steps need to be taken with regards to brutality of Assad's regime, it's important to calculate into your consideration the fact that he will go. The regime has lost control of the country and he will eventually fall." � But a senior Russian diplomat said on Tuesday that the push for adoption of the Western-Arab draft resolution was a "path to civil war".� "The western draft security council resolution on Syria will not lead to a search for compromise," a KGB� news agency quoted Russian thug "deputy foreign minister" Gatilov as saying. "Pushing it is a path to civil war." Damascus dismissed Western criticism and said it would defeat foreign attempts to spread chaos. "We are not surprised at the lack of wisdom or rationality of these statements and regret that they are still issued by countries that are used to making the Middle East an arena for their follies and failures," the state news agency quoted a foreign ministry source as saying. The comments came as fighting seemed to escalate on the ground in Syria. Activists said battles resumed in Damascus suburbs on Tuesday, after members of the anti-Assad Free Syrian Army pulled back the previous night after deadly clashes. Sounds of loud explosions were reported on Tuesday in the suburbs of Zamalka and Irbin as troops with heavy weaponry entered the area. Activists also said Rankous came under attack. About 100 people were reportedly killed across the country on Monday, as regime's troops battled opposition fighters in the central city of Homs and in suburbs of the capital. The Local co-ordination committees said the majority of the victims died in Homs province, many of them in the town of Rastan, where the regime's army shelled residential buildings. Source: Agencies Kavkaz Center

HATE CRIMES. Russians start poisoning Western citizens with their food exports

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 15:38:39 GMT

According to Lithuanian media, local state Food and Veterinary Service of Lithuania (SFVS) reported on January 31 that they seized a lot of 60, 500 (1, 910 kg) fish cans with Palcific saury (Colorabis saira) infested with parasitic worms. The poisonous cans were imported from Russia by a Lithuanian wholesaler company Vilsida. � According to the SFVS, during a routine control of food products imported from non-EU countries, inspectors of the SFVS at a medical station took samples of the Russian "Pacific saury in oil" cans for laboratory analysis. � The analysis revealed parasitic arthropodious worms genus Acanthocephala in Russian fish cans. Acanthocephala are exclusively parasitic worms which live in adults forms in intestines of vertebrates, including humans. The lot of Russian canned goods was banned for sale in Lithuania. The importer company was obliged to return the canned goods back to Russians or to destroy them with strict safety measures. � The manager of the Vilsida Company, Kestutis Babarskas, said that no such cases of poisonous fish exports from Russia had been ever observed before. Recently, Putin started his hate speech campaign against the west, accusing it of a desire to destroy his KGB Mother Russia. Department of Monitoring Kavkaz Center

Is Georgia joining anti-Iran coalition?

Tue, 31 Jan 2012 13:05:33 GMT

The president of Georgia, Mikhail Saakashvili, declared that the actual results of the meeting with president Barack Obama exceeded his expectations. This is reported by the news agency Civil.Ge. "I′m very charmed and pleased with the results of this meeting", mentioned Georgia′s president, after meeting US president Barack Obama in a special communique for the Georgian journalists. According to Saakashvili, this was the most fruitful meeting ever, from those he has had in the Oval cabinet of the White House. Saakashvili twice met Obama′s predecesor, George Bush, in the White House - in July 2006 and March 2008. "We talked about upgrading our collaboration in the area of defence up to a new level. If in the previous years the talk was about anti-terror operations or about our participation once or twice in Afghanistan, now we′re talking about collaboration with the US in the matters related to development Georgia′s own defence. We will continue working over these topics, some very concrete tasks have been planned, and this is a new, higher level of our collaboration in the area of military security", declared Saakashvili and added that president Barack Obama supports further integration of Georgia into NATO. The president of Georgia stated that another main point that was discussed at the meeting was related to the economic collaboration between the two countries. "The US president declared that he is ready to support the new format of economic collaboration, which entails the possibility of a free trade agreement between America and Georgia. We have to understand that this has an enormous meaning for the economy of Georgia in the near future", said Saakashvili. In the meantime, a Georgian military expert calls on Georgia to enter anti-Iran coalition. The Georgian side must voice its support for the US and, in case a coalition against Iran is created, enter this coalition. This was declared by the Georgian military expert Giorgi Tavdgiridze, according to Pirveli news agency. "We cannot afford to be neutral. Of course, a threat against Georgia is always there, but the existence of a nuclear power in the region which is overtaken by religious fanaticism, presents a bigger threat in the futurte, than a short-term military campaign against Iran", stated Tavdgiridze. The expert also added that if Georgia joins this campaign, then it will minimize the threat that it itself will become a target of Iran, for Iran posesses few resources and it is not concerned about Georgia, because all of its resources will be directed against the 5th fleet of the US and against Israel. The military expert pointed out that he does not see the developments towards Georgia′s infsrastructure being used for an eventual military attack on Iran. "With Iran, the main accent is made on the capability of the US navy. It can launch attacks on Iran without using the territory of other states. Of course, the US attempt to seek support from its allies, however, using Georgia with this scope is not expected". Touching upon the points of collaboration between Georgia and the US, the expert considers that after the Obama-Saakashvili meeting, the American companies will, perhaps, receive permission to sell arms to Georgia. "I think, these will be events that will be take place with the goal of increasing the level of readiness of the Georgian military forces, American instructors will come etc. Also, the US could sell us arms for defence. The purchase of arms is not an easy process, and it implies also training with respect to how to learn to use these arms, such as took place within the helicopters′ project. So, going to the new level of military collaboration means deep relations without formalities", said Tavdgiridze. Department of Monitoring Kavkaz Center