Bagapsh Accuses Tbilisi of Provocations Ahead of Polls

Abkhaz leader Sergey Bagapsh said on February 9 that any acts of provocation in the Gali district of breakaway Abkhazia will not thwart the local self-governance elections scheduled for February 11, Interfax news agency reported.

?As far as we know, the Georgian side has sent several terrorist groups to the Gali district of the republic, which should thwart the elections there,? Bagapsh said.

He also noted that the Georgian side is disseminating leaflets calling on Gali’s Georgian population to boycott the elections.

The Abkhaz leader also said that Abkhazia has suspended all contact with Georgia until two officials – Pridon Chakaberia, chief of the administration of Kvemo Bargebi village in the Gali District, and Davit Sigua, head of the Gali District’s local election commission – who were recently abducted in the Gali district, are released.

The same ultimatum was recently set by the Abkhaz leader as a precondition for the Abkhaz delegation?s participation in the UN-led Georgian-Abkhaz talks in Geneva scheduled for February 12-13; however, later the Abkhaz Security Council decided that Sokhumi will participate in the talks anyway. 

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