Tbilisi Wants UN Post in Kodori

The Georgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs has called for the establishment of a UN Observer Mission in Georgia (UNOMIG) observation post in upper Kodori Gorge.

In a statement on July 16, it said such an outpost would help prevent a reoccurrence of the March 11 attack.

A UNOMIG report, issued on July 12, suggested, but did not explicitly claim, that Russian army helicopters could have been involved in an attack on the Tbilisi-controlled upper Kodori Gorge on March 11, 2007.

The attack, according to the ministry, warrants ?the establishment in the village of Azhara of a permanent UNOMIG observation post, with all the necessary equipment at its disposal, including artillery locating radar and unmanned aircraft to control airspace.?

The UNOMIG report suggests not only that army helicopters could have been involved in the attack, but also indicates that the gorge came under artillery fire from Abkhaz-controlled territory.

The report gives a detailed description of findings by a Joint Fact-Finding Group (JFFG), headed by UNOMIG and also involving representatives from the Georgian, Russian peacekeepers and the Abkhaz sides. The group worked through consensus and as a result the report in many cases is inconclusive.

Despite the ?technical nature? of the report, the Georgian Foreign Ministry said ?it provides enough information to make certain conclusions.?

?The report confirms that the attack on Upper Abkhazia [upper Kodori Gorge] was a sophisticated and well-planned provocation,? the Foreign Ministry said. ?The report makes it clear that not only artillery, but an army helicopter, or several army helicopters, were involved in the attack.?

It also said the report fully exonerated Georgia. Russia?s ?groundless accusations? that the Georgian side itself had been involved in the attack, the ministry said, had been ?completely ruled out.?

?Unfortunately,? the ministry went on to say, ?it was impossible to identify the exact route from where [the helicopter or helicopters] approached the gorge, largely because of the Russian Federation?s refusal to hand over air traffic control records.?  The Russian claim that such records didn?t exist was, according to the ministry, ?an absolutely weak reason.?

Russia also refused to assist in determining the production origin of the Russian-made anti-tank guided missile, which was fired on the administrative building in the village of Chkhalta.

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