For years, there was not much difference between a civilian and a soldier in South Ossetia, which was embroiled in a long struggle to separate from Georgia. David G. Sanakoyev, for example, wore a tie during the day. As South Ossetia's ombudsman for human rights, he handled complaints about prison conditions or unlawful firings. Three times a week, after work, he changed into camouflage and took up a position at the territory's border, rotating in and out of combat duty until morning. This has been the strange way of life inside South Ossetia since the end of the Soviet Union. The tiny population of this valley has been turned into a loosely organized fighting force, deployed along the boundary that separates South Ossetia from Georgian-controlled territory. Now, with Russia guaranteeing its security, South Ossetia is asking residents to turn in their weapons voluntarily. The police plan to offer $300 to $400 for each Kalashnikov rifle, a top official said. The program is a test of confidence, one year after the war. Sanakoyev said he had never owned a gun, but felt it was still too early to disarm. 'Life has changed,' he said. 'But inside, you don't yet feel that life has changed.' Twenty years ago, few people in this valley were armed. The first clash between Ossetians and Georgians was fought with wooden bats and hunting rifles in 1989, after an estimated 12,000 Georgian demonstrators surrounded Tskhinvali to protest its first separatist bid. That began a great surge of arming. Ossetians' attachment to their weapons grew fierce, said Dmitri Medoyev, South Ossetia's ambassador to Russia. Before the first clashes, authorities in Georgia had stripped many Ossetian hunters of their rifles, and then the Soviet army twice betrayed Ossetia by withdrawing its forces, he said, so 'we, the population, cannot trust anyone.' Conditions have changed since last August, said Vitaly G. Gassiyev, South Ossetia's first deputy interior minister. At a new Russian base in Tskhinvali, dozens of tanks and self-propelled artillery are lined up a few minutes' drive from Georgian positions. By disarming, Gassiyev said, South Ossetia was using the lessons Russia had learned in the north Caucasus, where wars left a residue of crime, with 'guns in hands and lots of uncontrolled elements.' 