Saakashvili Visits Upper Kodori

President Saakashvili arrived in Georgian-controlled upper Kodori Gorge in breakaway Abkhazia on January 11 where he attended a session of the Abkhaz government-in-exile, Georgian media sources reported.

The headquarters of the Abkhaz government-in-exile was relocated from Tbilisi to Kodori in September after the central authorities restored control over the area following a crackdown on a Kodori-based Georgian paramilitary group.

President Saakashvili attended the inauguration of the headquarters in the village of Chkhalta on September 27 and announced that upper Kodori Gorge would serve as ?a temporary administration for the legitimate Abkhaz government.?

The move sparked angry reactions from both Moscow and Sokhumi. The Abkhaz side said that it would resume talks with Tbilisi only after the Georgian side pulls out its forces and government, described by Sokhumi as the puppet government, from upper Kodori.

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