Moscow, Sokhumi Deny Plans to Build Military Base in Gali

Russia and Abkhazia have denied that Sokhumi is planning, with Moscow?s assistance, to build a military base in the Gali district of the breakaway region.

The Georgian parliament?s Commission on Territorial Integrity issued a statement on June 11 alleging that construction of the base was planned in the village of Primorsk in a predominately Georgian-populated district.

?There are no such plans, because it contradicts international agreements,? RIA Novosti and Interfax news agencies quoted Vyacheslav Sedov, the spokesperson for the Russian Defense Ministry, on June 11.

The Georgian side also claimed that construction of the base involved the eviction of at least seven households from the village.

However, Ruslan Kishmaria, Abkhaz leader Sergey Bagapsh?s representative in the Gali district, rejected the allegations as groundless.

?Nobody plans to build a military base. People want to build summer cottages there and we give them money for this purpose. We do not need them,? Kishmaria said in a telephone conversation with Imedi television on June 11.

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