Georgia Rotates Peacekeepers, Reopens Road

Paata Bedianashvili, commander of the Georgian peacekeeping battalion, said on February 20 that the Georgian peacekeeping battalion passed through Tskhinvali and was deployed at the checkpoint located near the Georgian village of Achabeti.
 
?We were given [security] guarantees and our peacekeepers managed to reach their destination [in Achabeti] via Tskhinvali; as a result, the rotation process is now over,? Bedianashvili told Civil Georgia.

Earlier, on February 19, the Georgian side blocked roads to Tskhinvali both from the north and south after the South Ossetian side announced that a rotation of the Georgian peacekeepers in the conflict zone was illegal and refused to let the Georgian peacekeepers move through Tskhinvali.

Currently all the roads to Tskhinvali are open.

Georgian Prime Minister Zurab Nogaideli said on February 18 that Georgia will have about 330 servicemen in its peacekeeping battalion after the rotation. He also said that starting from spring Georgia will rotate its peacekeepers in the conflict zone once in three months.

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