Georgian, South Ossetian Sides Exchange Hostages

Georgian and South Ossetian sides exchanged dozens of hostages on November 7, but one Georgian is still missing in the South Ossetian conflict zone.

?The South Ossetian side released around 30 Georgians and the Georgian side released five Ossetians,? said Alexandre Sukhitashvili, Head of the Shida Kartli police, a region which also includes the South Ossetian conflict zone.

?The hostages were treated very humanely by the both sides,? Mikheil Kareli, Shida Kartli governor told reporters.

However, Eldar Kakhniashvili, 21, has been missing in the conflict zone since November 3. Initially the Georgian side accused the Ossetian side of kidnapping Kakhniashvili, but later agreed to carry out joint search operations with the Ossetian side and representatives of the Russian peacekeepers. These search operations will resume on November 8.