Russian troops pull out of western Georgia

POTI, Georgia (AFP) - Russian troops pulled out of encampments in western Georgia on Saturday as the shooting of a Georgian policeman underlined tensions over the EU-brokered disengagement plan.

As dawn broke, Russian columns could be seen leaving camps near the strategic port of Poti and around the western town of Senaki, abandoning earth embankments and trenches they had dug and heading towards the Abkhazia rebel region.

As they made their departure via the town of Zugdidi local residents stood along the route watching, and loudspeakers belted out the Georgian national anthem together with a song mocking Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin.

“I can confirm that the five Russian checkpoints on the Poti-Senaki line have been removed,” Georgian interior ministry spokesman Shota Utiashvili told AFP. The withdrawal was also confirmed on the Russian side.

Under the EU-backed peace plan all Russian troops are to leave uncontested parts of Georgia, with the exception of South Ossetia and Abkhazia, by the middle of next month.

At least 200 EU military observers are to be deployed first to oversee the peace, on terms the two sides still contest.