Moscow, Tskhinvali Deny Accusations as “Irresponsible”

Russian Foreign Ministry?s spokesman Mikhail Kaminin said in an information note issued on August 23 that ?irresponsible statement? of the Georgian Interior Ministry accusing the South Ossetian side and Russian peacekeepers of having links to the abduction of 11-year-old Geno Petriashvili from the South Ossetian conflict zone, ?causes bewilderment and regret.?

?The Georgian Interior Ministry hurries to put a ?traditional? label on the South Ossetian side, and most regretfully on the Russian peacekeepers as well, without even thoroughly studying the case,? Mikhail Kaminin said.

?This kind of statements fuel mistrust between the Georgians and Ossetians, aggravate tensions in the conflict zone and have negative consequences on relations between Russia and Georgia,? the Russian Foreign Ministry?s spokesman added.
 
A similar statement was issued by the breakaway South Ossetian Foreign Ministry on August 23 saying that the Georgian Interior Ministry?s statement ?has caused bewilderment and discontent because of its partiality, since the search operations are still underway and it is groundless to accuse the Ossetian side.?

According to the South Ossetian Foreign Ministry, the incident took place on the territory controlled by the Georgian side and as eyewitnesses say, the kidnappers were speaking in Georgian and the car driven by them had Georgian number plates.
 
?The abduction of the 11-year old boy from the village of Nuli, located in the Proni gorge, and hasty accusation of peacekeeping troops is a part of a well-planned action aimed at destabilization of the situation in South Ossetia,? the statement reads.
 
The South Ossetian authorities consider necessary to continue joint search operations and implement the agreements reached within the frames of the Joint Control Commission over interaction of law-enforcement agencies in combating crime in the South Ossetian conflict zone.

This post is also available in: ქართული (Georgian)