EU monitors in Georgia observed the dismantling of a Russian checkpoint near breakaway South Ossetia in the "first open sign" of a promised Russian troop pullback by October 10th, an EU spokesman said today.
The spokesman with the European Union monitoring mission said the checkpoint was in the Ali region of Georgia, northwest of the town of Gori.
"Monitors have been observing the dismantling of the checkpoint," the spokesman said. "This is the first open sign," he said, in reference to the expected Russian troop withdrawal following a five-day war between Russia and Georgia in August.
The regional police chief said the checkpoint was in the village of Nabakhtevi.
Russia has said it will pull back troops by Oct. 10 from "security zones" it established during the August war on Georgian territory adjoining the breakaway, pro-Russian regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia.
The October 10th deadline was set under a French-brokered ceasefire. The EU deployed an observer mission of more than 200 unarmed monitors on October 1st, with the initial task of monitoring the Russian pullback from the zones.
Months of skirmishes between separatists and Georgian troops erupted into war in August when Georgia sent troops and tanks to retake South Ossetia, a rebel Georgian province which threw off Tbilisi's rule in the early 1990s.
Russian forces subsequently drove Georgian government troops out of South Ossetia. Moscow's troops then pushed further into Georgia, saying they needed to prevent further Georgian attacks.
The West has condemned Russia for a "disproportionate response" to Georgia's actions and demanded that Moscow pull back its troops from Georgian territory outside the conflict zones. Despite international censure, Moscow has also recognised both
South Ossetia and Abkhazia as independent states.