Tskhinvali Bans Travel to Georgia

Breakaway South Ossetia said it would prohibit its citizens from traveling to Georgia proper, starting from September 1, in order ?to protect them from provocations? masterminded by the Georgian side.

Mikhail Mindzaev, the interior minister of the breakaway region, alleged on August 31 that Tbilisi was preparing provocative acts aimed at thwarting the celebration of the republic?s independence day on September 20.

?As part of this provocation, the Georgian law enforcement agencies are planning to recruit South Ossetians through blackmail,? Mindzaev said. ?South Ossetians who visit Georgia will be exposed to a risk of being detained and planted with drugs by the Georgian law enforcement agencies in order to make them cooperate under the threat of being sent to jail.?

He said other preventive measures, would include South Ossetian militiamen being on high alert starting from September 1.

All measures, Mindzaev said, would, however, be lifted after iindependence day.

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