Georgian, Abkhaz Sides Discuss Security Issues

The current situation in the Abkhaz conflict zone was discussed during the first meeting of the joint working group on security issues in frames of the Georgian-Abkhaz Coordinating Council, which was held in the Gali district of breakaway region on June 30, Apsnypress news agency reported.
 
Along with the Georgian and Abkhaz sides, the representatives of the OSCE, the UN Mission to Georgia and the CIS Peacekeeping Troops, as well as the representatives from the British, French and Russian Embassies on behalf of the Group of Friends of the UN Secretary General also participated in the meeting.
 
The participants stressed the necessity of using a mechanism of joint groups of coordinators, which was created by the Georgian and Abkhaz sides during the UN-mediated talks in Gali on January 24 in an attempt to tackle criminality in the conflict zone. 
 
The coordinators were instructed to develop a plan of action on fighting against criminality and confidence building in the Abkhaz conflict zone by the next meeting of the working group.  
 
The sides also discussed the issues of strengthening security and cooperation in the Kodori gorge ? the only part of breakaway Abkhazia under Tbilisi?s control. It was decided to prepare the proposals regarding patrolling the Kodori gorge for the next meeting of the working group.
 
In a final protocol of the meeting, the sides welcomed the restoration of the activities of the working group as an effective tool on security issues.
 
According to Apsnypress, the sides agreed to hold the next meeting of the working group on security issues in the first half of September.
 
The Georgian-Abkhaz Coordinating Council, which was resumed in May after five-year pause, deals with security related issues; return of refugees and displaced persons; economic and social issues. Three working groups operate in frames of the Council to address these three directions.