Tskhinvali Says it Closes Down Roads in Conflict Zone
Authorities of breakaway South Ossetia said they have decided to close down and block roads towards the Georgian-controlled villages of the region starting from May 11.
A statement posted on the South Ossetian Press and Information Committee?s web-site says that the move is aimed at providing security and at preventing provocations masterminded by the Georgian side and its ?puppet government? led by Dimitri Sanakoev.
The South Ossetian side said that Tbilisi has recently increased number of its police forces in the region. The Georgian policemen block the roads and force ethnic Ossetians moving from the Tskhinvali-controlled areas through the Georgian-controlled villages to undergo ?humiliating procedures of security checks,? the South Ossetian Press and Information Committee said.
It said that the South Ossetian side will unblock the roads towards the Georgian villages as soon as the Georgian side restores free movement on its controlled areas and as soon as Tbilisi disbands administration of Dimitri Sanakoev which is based in the Georgian village of Kurta in the conflict zone.
The South Ossetian side?s decision to block the roads coincides with the planned address of Sanakoev, whom President Saakashvili appointed as head of the provisional administrative entity in South Ossetia, to the Georgian Parliament on May 11.
Georgian Prime Minister Zurab Nogaideli told reporters on May 11 that Tbilisi ?will not yield to a blackmail? by the breakaway South Ossetian authorities.
?We will talk with the one who has agreed to talk with us. Dimitri Sanakoev has agreed to have a dialogue and we will continue dialogue with him,? PM Nogaideli added.
Georgian Prime Minister Zurab Nogaideli told reporters on May 11 that Tbilisi ?will not yield to a blackmail? by the breakaway South Ossetian authorities.
?We will talk with the one who has agreed to talk with us. Dimitri Sanakoev has agreed to have a dialogue and we will continue dialogue with him,? PM Nogaideli added.
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