Security Guarantees Needed for JCC in Tbilisi, Tskhinvali Says

The authorities in breakaway South Ossetia said they would participate in a session of the Joint Control Commission (JCC) in Tbilisi in September ?if there were international security guarantees? for their negotiators.

A meeting of the quadripartite JCC, involving negotiators from the Georgian, South Ossetian, Russian and Russia?s North Ossetian sides, was scheduled for August 9-10 in Tbilisi. The South Ossetian side, however, refused to participate, citing security concerns.

Tskhinvali?s reversal of position comes after the chief Russian negotiator on South Ossetia, Yuri Popov, held talks with South Ossetian officials on August 8.

?The Russian side has pledged to facilitate in arranging contacts with international organizations and the Georgian side in order to develop security guarantees that will be acceptable for the South Ossetian side,? a statement, posted on the South Ossetian Press and Information Committee website, reads.

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