Secessionist Leaders Warn of Possible Hostilities

The leaders of breakaway Abkhazia and South Ossetia, Sergey Bagapsh and Eduard Kokoity, respectively, both of whom are currently visiting Moscow, warned that Tbilisi might launch hostilities against the secessionist regions by the end of 2007. 

?The November-December period, when the fate of Kosovo is to be decided, is most troublous for us, as one can expect anything,? Interfax news agency quoted Bagapsh as saying on October 5.

Bagapsh also said that events in the conflict zones were directly linked to the internal political situation in Georgia, which, he said, had worsened with the arrest of the ex-defense minister, Irakli Okruashvili.

?If they cannot establish normal political relations inside their country, Abkhazia and South Ossetia want nothing to do with them,? South Ossetian leader Eduard Kokoity said at a joint news briefing with Bagapsh.

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