Tbilisi Annuls Treaty on S.Ossetia

An agreement allowing for Russian investment in economic rehabilitation in the South Ossetian conflict zone has been annulled by the Georgian president.

The disclosure, inexplicably, has only come to light now, three months after President Saakashvili issued a decree on April 20.

The agreement, which was signed between Russia and Georgia on December 23, 2000, also covered cooperation on the return of refugees.

The decision is seen as a sign of Tbilisi’s unease with Russian funding of certain programs in South Ossetia, which have been undertaken without prior agreement with the Georgian side.

The on-going construction of a gas pipeline linking breakaway South Ossetia with neighboring North Ossetia in Russia is particularly contentious.

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