State Minister Speaks of Three-Step Demilitarization Plan

Georgian State Minister for Conflict Resolution Issues Goga Khaindrava said after talks in frames of Joint Control Commission (JCC) in Vladikavkaz on November 20, that the demilitarization of the South Ossetian conflict zone will be carried out in three stages.

He said demilitarization should be launched by dismantling military fortifications in the conflict zone; withdrawal of armored vehicles and heavy weaponry from the conflict zone should be the second step and eventually the process should grow into disarmament of the local, both Georgians and Ossetians, population in the conflict zone.

Georgian Prime Minister Zurab Zhvania and South Ossetian de facto President Eduard Kokoev singed an agreement on November 5 in Sochi envisaging the demilitarization of the conflict zone before November 20. But it was clear from the outset that the both sides would fail to meet the demilitarization deadline.