TBILISI, Georgia -- Russian soldiers have 10 days to leave Georgia or they will be forced out, a member of the Georgian government said Monday in an escalation of the war of words between the former Soviet republic and Moscow.


The statement by Dzhaba loseliani, a member of the ruling State Council, was another in a series of increasingly belligerent exchanges between Russia and Georgia over the situation in the separatist region of Abkhazia.


Also on Monday, Georgia accused the Russian air force of shooting down a helicopter and killing the two-man crew near the coastal resort of Gagra.


But Russia's Defense Ministry denied responsibility and blamed Abkhaz separatists for Monday's downing of the Mi-24 helicopter with ground-to-air missiles, Itar-Tass said.


Georgia's leader, Eduard Shevardnadze, told the ruling State Council that the helicopter was shot down by a Su-25 fighter-bomber that took off from a Russian base at Gudauta, a State Council press spokesman said.


The State Council on Saturday decided to transfer all military equipment belonging to the former Soviet army to Georgia's jurisdiction, a move the Russian defense minister, Pavel Grachev, called a "flagrant breach of earlier accords".


Grachev predicted the decision could provoke fighting between Georgian and Russian forces and asked Shevardnadze to cancel the order and open talks with Moscow on the status of Russian troops in Georgia.


Ioseliani said that Russian soldiers remaining in Georgia after Oct. 15 will be considered occupants and will be ordered to leave. If they refuse, "we'll try to do it by force", he said.


There are 100, 000 Russian troops in the Caucasus region, Ioseliani said.


On Sept. 3, President Boris Yeltsin, Shevardnadze and Abkhazian leaders reached an agreement in Moscow that called for a cease-fire and the partial withdrawal of Moslem militants from southern Russia who were fighting alongside the Abkhazians. Fighting has continued despite the accords.


Ioseliani said that if Yeltsin failed to use his power to ensure that all provisions of the Moscow agreements were fulfilled, "we'll find other partners: America, England, Germany, Turkey -- and demand that the Russian troops stationed in Georgia should leave".


(AP, Reuters)