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CNN Live At Daybreak

War on Terror Moving to Several New Fronts

Aired March 01, 2002 - 06:40   ET

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.

THIS IS A RUSH TRANSCRIPT. THIS COPY MAY NOT BE IN ITS FINAL FORM AND MAY BE UPDATED.
CAROL COSTELLO, CNN ANCHOR: Well we've been telling you about this all morning. Along (ph) the war on terror is moving to several new fronts, including the former Soviet Republic of Georgia. Plans are now underway to send U.S. military equipment and advisers to that region.

Our Jill Dougherty joins us by video phone from the capital Tbilisi. Good morning.

JILL DOUGHERTY, CNN CORRESPONDENT: Good morning, Carol.

Well, you know, this training and provision of some of the equipment already has been taking place. In fact, we are here at the Abkhazia Base -- it's a helicopter base. And behind me, you can see some six helicopters that the United States has already provided to Georgia. It's a package deal that includes the helicopters, spare parts, fuel, and also the trainers who are training the Georgian military in how to use these helicopters.

Just this past hour, we went out on one of the training flights and went out. It's a very (UNINTELLIGIBLE) to this region and went out to the Caucusus, over the Caucusus mountains. And deliberately avoiding some of the dangerous areas -- and there are many in Georgia. One in particular is the Pankisi Gorge. It's located to the northeast of here, and it's an area -- an area -- the Chechnyan border. An area where fighters from Chechnya have come over and also, more recently, fighters allied with the al Qaeda terrorist network.

Now there are going to be more trainers, as you mentioned. In fact, there will be from 100 to 200 (UNINTELLIGIBLE), but no one is pinning them down yet. They will be coming to Georgia, we understand from the Georgian Defense Ministry, at the end of March. And those trainers will be working with the Georgian military trying to get them coordinated. There are many different organizations here, the military that deal with issues of...

COSTELLO: That was Jill Dougherty reporting for us from Tbilisi from Georgia this morning. Thank you, Jill.

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