The mop-up began with a daring raid. Alerted by American intelligence, a small team of Georgian security forces led by their U.S.-trained commander descended on the lawless Pankisi Gorge in the country's northeastern Caucasus region and ambushed a car. The Georgians shot the driver and grabbed the vehicle's three passengers, all of them Arabs suspected of links to terrorism. The operation sent ripples of fear throughout the valley, according to Chechen guerrillas allied with Arab militants in the area. All fighters, they say, were told to leave their billets only if necessary and to avoid contact with anyone they did not...
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