September 24, 2008	Wednesday	Ramazan 23, 1429

TBILISI, Sept 23: Georgia on Tuesday claimed to have shot down a Russian drone near one of its rebel regions and a key east-west pipeline, as President Mikheil Saakashvili was to address the United Nations.

The claim was denied by Russia, which described it as a “provocation.” Georgian interior ministry spokesman Shota Utiashvili said police had shot down the unmanned reconnaissance drone on Monday near a buffer zone patrolled by Russia’s military since last month’s conflict over South Ossetia.

“Yesterday morning a Georgian police unit patrolling near the Baku-Supsa pipeline saw a small Russian unmanned plane, which was immediately downed,” he said.

The incident occurred near Tsitelubani, about 50 kilometres northwest of the capital Tbilisi near the South Ossetia area, he said.

The same area was hit by a missile strike in 2007 that Georgia blamed on Russia.

“The drone, which was flying at an altitude of 50 metres, was shot down by our policemen with automatic weapons. It was equipped with photographic camera and a global positioning system (GPS),” the spokesman said.

The Baku-Supsa pipeline is a key artery for bringing Caspian oil to world markets, but has been shut since last month’s conflict.

In Moscow, Russian army spokesman Vitaly Manushko denied that any such incident had occurred.

“There has been no crash or downing of any flying apparatus in the security zone,” Manushko was quoted by RIA Novosti news agency as saying.

Russian defence ministry spokesman Alexander Drobyshevsky was quoted by Interfax news agency as saying: “This is the latest informational provocation from the Georgian side with the aim of destabilising the situation.” Forces of the Abkhazia rebel region have frequently claimed to have shot down Georgian drones, but there have been no recent claims by Georgia to have shot down Russian drones.

The incident came as Saakashvili was on Tuesday expected to make an appeal at the United Nations General Assembly in New York for international support.

Saakashvili says his country was subjected to naked aggression by Russia in last month’s brief conflict over South Ossetia and has vowed to fight Moscow’s decision to recognise as independent South Ossetia and Abkhazia.

Moscow says it intervened in defence of Russian citizens living in South Ossetia.

Tensions remain high around the two separatist zones as European Union monitors prepare to deploy as part of an EU-brokered peace deal between Russia and Georgia.

Italian and German monitors were due to arrive in Tbilisi on Tuesday together with armoured cars, after the mission head held his first meetings here on Monday.—AFP