Cabinet Members Consult with MPs on Russian Peacekeepers

Georgian Prime Minister Zurab Nogaideli and State Minister for Conflict Resolution Issues Giorgi Khaindrava met with Parliamentary Chairperson Nino Burjanadze and other senior lawmakers on Monday evening on the eve of parliamentary hearings, scheduled for February 7, which will most likely result in a demand to withdraw the Russian peacekeeping troops stationed in the South Ossetian conflict zone.

“These were preliminary consultations to agree over some details of the hearings scheduled for tomorrow. The rest will become known tomorrow,” Prime Minister Zurab Nogaideli told reporters after meeting with the Parliamentary Chairperson.

He also said that the pull-out of the Russian peacekeepers has never been a goal of the Georgian side. “We wanted the Russian peacekeepers to fulfill their mandate,” PM Nogaideli said, but refrained from elaborating the details of the report which the government plans to present to the parliamentarians on February 7.