By Patrick Worsnip UNITED NATIONS, July 13 (Reuters) - A U.N.-led probe of an apparent ground and air attack on a disputed gorge controlled by the former Soviet republic of Georgia reached no conclusion on who was to blame, according to a report published on Friday. The U.N. observer mission in Georgia launched the inquiry into the March 11 incident in the Kodori gorge in the breakaway republic of Abkhazia after Georgian officials alleged Russian helicopters were involved. Russia denied any attacks. The area has been a long-standing flashpoint between Tbilisi and Moscow, which lends moral support to Abkhazia. A spying controversy and trade disputes have been other symptoms of tensions over Georgia's pro-Western leanings. With Georgian, Russian and Abkhazian officials all sitting on the inquiry panel, a clear assignation of blame had never looked likely. The group investigated the firing of rockets, mainly from ground launchers but including one that was thought to have come from a helicopter and damaged a local government building. No one was hurt by any of the rockets. The Kodori gorge is the de facto border between Abkhazia and Georgia. Its upper part is home to a local pro-Georgian administration, while the lower part is controlled by Abkhazian separatists. The cautiously worded 25-page report stated that it had been unable to come to a conclusion on a range of aspects of the incident or that the findings were disputed. One key issue was whether helicopters were involved. Critics of Moscow have said only Russian helicopter pilots had the training to mount the night-time attack in poor weather in the mountainous terrain. Local residents interviewed by the panel reported seeing helicopters, and the remains of an anti-tank guided missile (ATGM) fired at the building also pointed to their use, but here too the report stopped short of certainty. "The spent ATGM ..., typically but not exclusively a helicopter delivered missile ... also indicates the presence of helicopters ... Unfortunately no further evidence positively and conclusively denies or affirms the presence of helicopters," it said. It did establish that most of the 16 ground craters it looked at were caused by rockets from Russian-made 122mm BM 21 launchers. Russia, Georgia and Abkhazia all possess Russian arms and the apparent direction of fire -- from the south -- also did not prove who fired them. In comments added to the report, the panel head, Maj.-Gen. N.M.K. Khattak of the U.N. mission, said the whole incident was "highly complex because of a number of tactical inconsistencies and an extremely difficult operating environment". "Working through consensus made it difficult to agree on several matters, especially in those areas where there was no adequate evidence," Khattak said.
