Sokhumi Rejects UN Kodori Post

Sergey Shamba, the foreign minister of breakaway Abkhazia, has rejected Tbilisi?s suggestion that the UN Observer Mission in Georgia (UNOMIG) establish a permanent observation post in upper Kodori Gorge.

Speaking to the recently launched Abkhaz TV station, Abaza, Shamba said that Tbilisi needed the UN presence in upper Kodori Gorge ?to legitimize? its grip on the area, Abkhaz news agency Apsnipress reported.

?We don?t need any observers there, who will only serve to guarantee the presence of autonomous structures in the upper Kodori Gorge,? Shamba said, referring to the headquarters of the Tbilisi-backed Abkhaz government-in-exile.

He did, however, say that Sokhumi would consider the proposal, if Tbilisi withdrew from the area.

The Georgian Ministry of Foreign Affairs called for the UN post in upper Kodori Gorge on July 16 to help, as it put it, prevent a reoccurrence of the March 11 attack.

The March 11 attack, according to the ministry, demonstrated the need for the post in the village of Azhara, ?with all the necessary equipment at its disposal, including artillery locating radar and unmanned aircraft to control airspace.?

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