Peace agreed in Caucasus conflict

AFTER a day of difficult negotiations in Moscow yesterday, the leaders of Russia, Georgia, the rebel Georgian region of Abkhazia and small nations of southern Russia, laid the groundwork for a peaceful settlement of the threatening conflict in the Caucasus.

The Georgian leader, Eduard Shevardnadze, compromised and agreed to the partial withdrawal of his troops from Abkhazia and the establishment of a peace-keeping force involving Russian soldiers. The reluctant Abkhazian leader, Vladislav Ardzinba, was told by Russia's stern President Boris Yeltsin that he could not leave the meeting without giving something in exchange and was forced to agree to a ceasefire and to shake hands with Mr Shevardnadze.

Emerging from the talks, the Russian President told journalists that he was confident all sides would abide by the agreement. The alternative, he said, was that the conflict in Abkhazia could turn into a war 'that equals five Nagorny Karabakhs', something he did not want on Russia's southern border. He was referring to the four-year territorial con

flict between Armenia and Azerbaijan in which more than 2,000 people have been killed. So far, about 150 people have died in Abkhazia.

The ceasefire is due to go into force tomorrow but already yesterday guns in the Black Sea region had fallen largely silent, allowing an exchange of prisoners, dead and wounded in the capital of Sukhumi, although one Georgian soldier was reported to have been killed in fighting in the town of Gagra further up the coast.

The Nagorny Karabakh experience shows, however, that ceasefires alone are of little help and Mr Yeltsin was anxious to support the truce with further decisions.

Mr Shevardnadze, who as Soviet foreign minister earned a reputation as a liberal capable of compromise, met Mr Yeltsin halfway by agreeing that Georgian troops, who entered Abkhazia last month to block its attempted breakaway, would stay on only in sufficient numbers to ensure the safety of the region's railways.

Earlier, in response to a Russian appeal for their full withdrawal from Abkhazia, he had said that they were 'on Georgian territory and let no one forget that'.

Mr Shevardnadze also withdrew his earlier objections to a Russian peace-keeping role similar to an operation already going on in another troubled Georgian region, South Ossetia.

The question now is whether the maverick tribes from the Russian side of the Caucasus mountains, who have been supporting the Abkhazians, will stop their guerrilla war against Georgia.