Russia may seek UN deal to hit rebels in Georgia

Russia increased the tension with Georgia yesterday by hinting that it may ask permission from the UN to attack Chechen rebels sheltering in a remote valley in Georgia.

Moscow's foreign minister, Igor Ivanov, said the rebels had "unrestrained freedom" in the Pankisi gorge, just across the border from Russia, and claimed that Tbilisi was obliged under a UN security council resolution to fight terrorist activity.

Georgia accused Russia yesterday of launching its third air attack on its territory in a week. Georgian border authorities said no one was hurt in the incident, but that three unexploded bombs had been found near the Russian border. The Russian air force said bad weather grounded all its planes in the region yesterday.

Georgia yesterday claimed to have arrested seven rebels as they tried to cross into its territory. In turn, Russian border guards killed another three rebels as they tried to return to Georgia from the Itum-Kale region in the south of the Chechen republic.

Moscow claims that Chechen rebels, including a prominent field commander, Gulayev, have made a base in the mountainous border region of Pankisi, which threadbare Georgian forces are struggling to control.

The US gave Russian fears unexpected weight earlier this year by suggesting that al-Qaida members may also have entered the gorge. The US swiftly began a £40m training programme for the Georgian military - an American troop presence on former Soviet soil that enraged Moscow.