No assurances from Moscow on return of Humvees: Pentagon

No assurances from Moscow on return of Humvees: Pentagon (NSI News Source Info) Washington - Aug 22, 2008: The United States has received no assurances from Russia that it will return US military vehicles seized in Georgia, a Pentagon spokesman said Thursday. Russian forces seized "a handful" of Humvees, four-wheeled all-purpose military vehicles, in the Black Sea port of Poti, where they were awaiting shipment out of Georgia after an exercise, spokesman Bryan Whitman said. Whitman said the Humvees were US property and should be returned. "I don't think we have any assurances at this point that they're prepared to do the right thing and return them," he said. According to witnesses, five Humvees with the letters USMC -- the initials of the US Marine Corps -- emblazoned on them were taken by Russian forces. A Russian newspaper said the vehicles contained sophisticated satellite communications gear and they had been flown to Moscow to be examined. Whitman declined to comment on what equipment was on the vehicles.