Bagapsh Offers to Transform Gudauta Base into Russo-Georgian Anti-Terrorist Center

Russian Interfax news agency reported quoting Abkhaz leader Sergey Bagapsh as saying: ?Georgia and Russia are negotiating over the setting up of a joint anti-terrorist center. I think that the [military] base in Gudauta could become this [anti-terrorist center] ? there are all preconditions for this.?

Visiting Sergey Bagapsh was speaking at a news conference, organized by the Interfax news agency in Moscow on March 15.

The Gudauta military base is located in breakaway Abkhazia. According to the Russian side the base is currently used by the Russian peacekeepers stationed in the Abkhaz conflict zone.
 
In accordance with the 1999 OSCE Istanbul treaty, Russia committed itself to liquidating this military base in 2001. Russia claims that it has pulled out its troops from Gudauta; however Tbilisi insists on international monitoring of the base in an attempt to verify the complete disbanding of this base.

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