Russia says to inspect cargo at Georgian port

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russian forces will carry out regular inspections of cargo at Georgia's economically vital Black Sea port of Poti, a senior Russian defense official said on Monday.

"The Russian contingent is carrying out patrolling duties in Poti. Within the framework of those tasks is the regular inspection of cargo which is brought in and out of the port. These checks are carried out on a regular basis," Anatoly Nogovitsyn, deputy chief of the Russian military's General Staff, told Reuters after a news conference.

Russia says it has honored a pledge to withdraw the bulk of troops it sent in this month after Georgian forces tried to retake the Moscow-backed breakaway region of South Ossetia.

But Western states believe the Russian plan to station what it calls peacekeeping troops deep inside Georgia will hand the Kremlin pressure points on key oil and trade routes through Georgia to the Black Sea.

Poti is Georgia's busiest cargo port and can load up to 100,000 barrels per day of oil products, which arrive by rail from Azerbaijan.

Georgian officials said on Monday that a Russian patrol had been inside the port terminal and took away computers and photocopiers in armored personnel carriers.

Nogovitsyn said he could not confirm that Russian soldiers had removed equipment from the terminal, but said they had a right to patrol the port as part of a peacekeeping mandate.

"The concept of patrolling is laid out within the framework of the six principles (ceasefire deal) signed by the presidents of Russia and France," he said.

"The Russian peacekeepers are carrying out this right, without violating any status. Patrolling is a civilized form of conducting checks."

(Reporting by Tanya Mosolova; writing by Christian Lowe; editing by Jon Boyle and Tim Pearce)