President Saakashvili, speaking at a session of the National Security Council on March 26, has insisted that he will not remove the Abkhaz government-in-exile from the Tbilisi-controlled upper Kodori Gorge in breakaway Abkhazia.
Tbilisi set up the headquarters of the exiled government led by Malkhaz Akishbaia in the village of Chkhalta in upper Kodori last September. The move has been seen as a provocation by the the de facto authorities in Sokhumi, who have described Akishbaia?s administration as ?a puppet government.? Moscow has also demanded the withdrawal of the exiled authorities from the gorge.
President Saakashvili claimed that ?there are direct threats towards Georgia, aimed at forcing the withdrawal of the legitimate Abkhaz government.?
?Let everyone remember this very well: the [Abkhaz] government-[in-exile] can move from Chkhalta only to Sokhumi; relocation of this government to any other location is ruled out? Everyone, both within the country and outside the country, should remember this very well,? Saakashvili said.
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