Georgia's Pankisi Gorge: Russian Concerns and U.S. Interests

RS21319 -- Georgia's Pankisi Gorge: Russian Concerns and U.S. Interests

Updated March 6, 2003

Summary

Georgia has faced difficulty in asserting control over its Pankisi Gorge area bordering Russia's breakaway Chechnya region. During 2002, Russia increasingly threatened to intervene in the Gorge, claiming that Chechen rebels and international terrorists based there were making forays into Russia. U.S. interest in the Gorge was spurred by evidence that terrorists there might have been linked to Al Qaeda, and the United States provided training and equipment to help Georgia reassert control over the area. This report may be updated. Related products include CRS Issue Brief IB95024, Armenia, Azerbaijan, and Georgia: Political Developments and Implications for U.S. Interests; and CRS Report 97-727, Georgia [Republic]: Recent Developments and U.S. Interests.