MOSCOW - Russia on Wednesday angrily pressed Georgia to arrest and extradite a prominent Chechen warlord, one of the main sore points in the worsening relations between the two former Soviet republics.

Over the weekend, Georgian President Eduard Shevardnadze repeated that he has seen no proof that Chechen rebel commander Ruslan Gelayev is a terrorist, and that he considers Gelayev an "educated person."

That prompted a critical response Wednesday from Russia's Foreign Ministry.

"Moscow hopes the Georgian leadership will stop sponsoring and justifying terrorists, but will promptly extradite the people who committed crimes in Russian territory," Foreign Ministry spokesman Alexander Yakovenko said in a statement.

Russia has said raids led by Gelayev have led to the death of Russian troops and inflicted serious damage, and he faces charges of leading illegal armed groups.

Paata Msakhiladze, head of the international department of Georgia's Prosecutor General's Office, said Wednesday that Georgia received Russia's extradition request in November, but that authorities were unable to find him.
Msakhiladze said the manhunt continues.

If Gelayev is discovered, he will be arrested and the case for his extradition will be reviewed, Msakhiladze said.

Relations between Georgia and Russia have steadily worsened over Georgia's Pankisi Gorge, which borders Chechnya and which Russia claims serves as a base for rebels from the breakaway province amid alleged inaction by Georgian authorities.

Georgia has accused Russia of launching air strikes on the gorge. A group of Russian Defense Ministry experts were to head Thursday to Georgia to participate in a joint investigation of an alleged Aug. 23 attack, Georgian Defense Ministry spokeswoman Nino Sturua said.

In another sign of tension, a Russian lawmaker said Wednesday that he has asked the Russian chief prosecutor's office to determine whether Shevardnadze exceeded his authority when, as Soviet Foreign Minister in 1990, he signed a border agreement with the United States that keeps Russian fishing vessels out of areas in the northern Bering Sea.

Alexander Nazarov, head of a Russian upper parliament house committee on issues involving the country's northern reaches, said that without approval from the Supreme Soviet, Shevardnadze and U.S. Secretary of State James Baker exchanged notes and agreed on the deal, the Interfax news agency reported.

"The agreement on handing over territory based on an exchange of notes has no precedent in history," Interfax quoted Nazarov as saying.

Nazarov announced Tuesday that lawmakers are drafting a new agreement and hope to come to terms with the United States on the issue. Russia has long railed against the 1990 deal, which lawmakers say has cost the country's fishing industry more than dlrs 1.4 billion, but the focus on Shevardnadze's role has never been so intense.

Shevardnadze spokesman Kahkha Imnadze said Wednesday that the Russian accusation was groundless, the ITAR-Tass news agency reported. Imnadze said all decisions on such a level were approved by the Communist Party leadership and Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev.

He said the allegation were aimed "to exert psychological or other pressure on the Georgian leadership, but such attempts are doomed to failure," according to ITAR-Tass.

On a warmer note, a Georgian official said Russia agreed Wednesday to return three Georgian border guards who were detained Monday after they strayed into Russian territory along the mountainous frontier.

Georgian officials said the guards had gotten lost and should not have been detained, but Russia refused to release them immediately.

Valery Chkeidze, the head of Georgia's border guards, said Russian and Georgian guards officials agreed the men would be freed Thursday.