Radio station fuels diplomatic row

The Pankisi Gorge is believed to be home to Chechen rebels as well as al-Qaeda members

TBILISI, Georgia -- A new U.S.-backed radio station broadcasting to Chechens living in Georgia has aroused a diplomatic spat between Moscow and Washington.

Russia has hit out at the United States for funding the station Radio Liberty which broadcasts to Chechens living in the former Soviet state.

Moscow says it is helping fan Chechen nationalism -- Chechnya rebels have been fighting a bitter battle for a separate state against Russian forces.

Russia's foreign ministry handed a senior U.S. diplomat a note about its concerns.

U.S. Secretary of State Colin Powell told reporters in Washington the United States had looked very carefully into all possible implications before giving the go-ahead for Radio Liberty.

VIDEO CNN's Jill Dougherty reports U.S. troops may be heading to the former Soviet Republic of Georgia (February 28) Play video   MORE STORIES • Moscow alarm at U.S.'s Georgia aid  • Georgia: Caucasus flashpoint  • U.S. troops may head to republic of Georgia    EXTRA INFORMATION • Georgia after the Soviet Union  • Chechnya after the Soviet Union    ON THE SCENE Efforts to control bandit country

Chechens living in Georgia welcomed the new station saying listening to it was like "children waiting for the lights on the Christmas tree to go on." Locals are killing sheep in traditional celebration to mark the event.

Streets emptied as the radio station went live late on Wednesday, a Chechen told Reuters news agency by mobile telephone on Thursday.

Families gathered around radios to hear the news.

"We got the feeling that we had our own state," said Khamid Gumayev, who is spending his third year in Pankisi after fleeing the fighting across the border in Chechnya.

"I won't say the content is different from what they say in their Russian broadcasts but we were overwhelmed to hear Radio Liberty speak our language."

Hundreds of Chechen rebel soldiers are also thought to be hiding in the gorge.

The U.S. has already aroused diplomatic tensions earlier this year when it announced it was going to help train the Georgian army so it could tackle the lawless Pankisi Gorge where some al-Qaeda fighters are believed to be holed up.

It is not the first local language radio station to alarm Russia. Moscow has condemned the start of broadcasts in several local languages of Russia's volatile North Caucasus, for fear it will fan separatist feeling and undermine its efforts to pacify the region.