Breakaway Abkhazia to host Russian bases

By Denis Dyomkin

SUKHUMI, Georgia (Reuters) - Georgia's separatist region of Abkhazia plans to sign a deal allowing Russia to build two new military bases there despite protests from the European Union and the United States, Abkhaz officials said.

Abkhazia threw off Georgian rule in the 1990s and hopes the Russian bases will help guarantee its independence from Tbilisi. Only Russia and Nicaragua have recognized Abkhazia as a sovereign state.

Moscow's military presence is already visible in Abkhazia, an impoverished area running along the Black Sea coast.

A military unit, complete with huge radars, army tents and flying the flag of the Russian air force, has been deployed near the resort town of Gudauta where Moscow plans to revive a Soviet-era air base, a Reuters reporter saw.

Abkhaz Deputy Defense Minister Garry Kupalba said a military treaty with Russia could be signed for a 25-year period and include the training of Abkhaz officers in Russia.

"Great nations should undertake obligations to safeguard the security of small states," he told Reuters.

SERIOUS VIOLATION

Georgia sent troops to try to retake another separatist region -- South Ossetia -- last August, triggering a brief war with Russia. Moscow has pledged to station 7,600 soldiers in the two pro-Russian separatist areas "to prevent a repeat of military aggression by Tbilisi."