Russia starts pullout from military base in Georgia after delay

Russia began withdrawing equipment Saturday from the Batumi military base in Georgia under a May agreement with the Caucasian country, a Russian military commander said.

The first convoy leaving the base consisted of 11 vehicles and was being accompanied by two Georgian police cars, Vladimir Kuparadze, deputy commander of the Russian troops in Transcaucasia, told the Itar-Tass news agency.

The convoy will travel 360 km to Mtskheti in east Georgia Saturday, continue its journey Sunday toward the Georgian-Russian border and then head for the city of Vladikavkaz in south Russia.

The withdrawal of vehicles from Batumi had been scheduled for Thursday, but the convoy was stranded for two days as the two sides wrangled over re-entry visas to the Russian servicemen accompanying the convoy, until they were finally issued to the Russian.

In August, two Russian amphibious ships will pull back home 40 pieces of heavy equipment, including 20 tanks, from the base, Kuparadze said.

After years of rancorous negotiations, Moscow and Tbilisi finally struck a deal on May 30 on the pullout of the Russian bases in the Black Sea port of Batumi and the southern city of Akhalkalaki by year 2008.

Source: Xinhua