Russia: Alleged Georgian spy held

MOSCOW, Russia (AP) -- Russia's security service said agents detained a spy allegedly recruited by Georgia to support insurgents in the restive North Caucasus, news agencies reported Friday, adding to escalating tension between the ex-Soviet republics.

A Georgian official denied the allegation and called it part of a Russian "policy of provocation" aimed at Georgia, which is the focus of a struggle for regional influence between Moscow and the West.

Russia's relations with Georgia are badly strained as the small country's U.S.-allied leader courts the West. Tensions have increased sharply lately over Russia's increasing support for Georgia's breakaway Abkhazia province, a linchpin in Moscow's efforts to thwart Georgia's drive for NATO membership.

A Russian security service official identified the alleged agent as Ramzan Turkoshvili, a Georgian-born Russian citizen, the ITAR-Tass news agency reported.

The Federal Security Service, or FSB, cast the detention as proof of Georgian support for militants operating in Russia's restive North Caucasus, which includes war-scarred Chechnya.

The FSB official said Turkoshvili, 34, was recruited by Georgian intelligence officers working with Zelimkhan Khangashvili, an alleged militant leader who has taken refuge in Georgia's Pankisi Gorge, across the border from Chechnya, ITAR-Tass said.

The official was quoted as saying Khangashvili's group was involved in a 2004 attack in Russia's Ingushetia province, adjacent to Chechnya, that left nearly 100 people dead, many of them police.

The official claimed Georgian intelligence paid Turkoshvili to establish contacts with militants in the North Caucasus and help Georgia finance them, ease their movement and gather information about potential recruits among Russian servicemen and officials.

The Interfax news agency cited an unidentified FSB official as saying the alleged spy's exposure confirms that Georgia's security service was "participating in disruptive terrorist activities in the North Caucasus."

The FSB, which often makes announcements through Russian news agencies, declined to comment.

Georgian Interior Ministry spokesman Shota Utiashvili denied the espionage accusation and called it "a continuation of Russia's policy of provocation toward Georgia, which has taken a particularly acute form recently."

The Interior Ministry is in charge of Georgia's intelligence service.

Relations between Georgia and Russia have been strained since the 2004 election of Georgia's pro-Western President Mikhail Saakashvili, who has sought to reduce Moscow's influence and cultivated close ties with the United States and European Union.

Tension has increased sharply in recent months, with Saakashvili pushing for NATO membership and Russia promising an energetic campaign to prevent Georgia from joining the alliance.

The tension has focused on Abkhazia, one of two regions that broke from central government control in early 1990s wars and have backing from Russia, which has granted most of their residents citizenship.

Russia has dramatically increased support for Abkhazia's separatist government, lifting trade sanctions, firming up legal ties and bolstering a peacekeeping force Georgia accuses of siding with the separatists.

Russia and Georgia accuse each other of gearing up for aggression in Abkhazia, and concerns are high that even a small incident could touch off new fighting in the Black Sea province.

Abkhazia's separatist President Sergei Bagapsh called Wednesday for Russia to sign a military treaty with the region, and Russia's air force chief said Thursday that he favors establishing a military base there.

Friday's allegations came with a top Georgian official due in Moscow for talks on the tensions over Abkhazia and South Ossetia. Also Friday, a bomb hit a police car near a Georgian-controlled town in South Ossetia, seriously wounding an officer, Georgian Interior Ministry spokesman Shota Khizanishvili said.

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