Mixed Reactions after First Day of S.Ossetia Talks

The sides are close to an agreement on placing an observation post at the northern confines of the South Ossetian conflict zone, something Tbilisi has been pushing for, Georgian chief negotiator Dimitri Manjavidze said after the first day of talks in Tbilisi on October 23.

Russian chief negotiator on South Ossetia Yuri Popov was more cautious in his remarks; while the South Ossetian negotiator, Boris Chochiev, was tight-lipped.

A session of the quadripartite negotiating body, the Joint Control Commission (JCC), which also involves Russia?s North Ossetia, was held for the first time in over a year in the OSCE mission headquarters in Tbilisi. The session will reconvene again on October 24 to agree on a final protocol, reflecting the sides’ positions.

?The Russian and North Ossetian sides, as well as the OSCE, share our position on placing an observation post of the Joint Peacekeeping Forces [involving Georgian, Russian and Ossetian troops] at Didi Gupta,? Dimitri Manjavidze, the Georgian deputy state minister for conflict resolution issues, told reporters after the talks, which lasted for seven hours.

The village of Didi Gupta is located at the northern extreme of the conflict zone – an area defined as a 15-km radius around the South Ossetian capital of Tskhinvali. Tbilisi hopes that an observation post at Didi Gupta would prevent trafficking of arms within the conflict zone.

Manjavidze said, although the Russian and North Ossetian negotiators were amenable, it was ?hard to convince? the South Ossetian side of the efficacy of the proposal.

Russian chief negotiator Yuri Popov told reporters that ?concrete agreement? still hadn’t been reached. But he also added there was a chance to reach some ?concrete results tomorrow,? on October 24, when the sides will again gather in the OSCE mission headquarters in Tbilisi. It was not possible after one day of talks to agree on a text for a final protocol ? something which is usually signed by all the sides after each plenary session.

Meanwhile, the South Ossetians have been pushing for an agreement on the non-use of force, which, Tskhinvali hopes, will be signed by South Ossetian secessionist leader Eduard Kokoity and President Saakashvili.

Georgian negotiators, however, say such an agreement is pointless without first implementing demilitarization measures. An observation post in Didi Gupta, Tbilisi says, is but the first step in this direction, with others to follow, including control of Roki Tunnel, which links the breakaway region with neighboring North Ossetia.

Yet another point of contention between the sides is the role of Dimitri Sanakoev, head of the Tbilisi-backed South Ossetian provisional administration. While Tbilisi has been trying to promote Sanakoev’s administration as a party to the conflict, which represents at least part of the South Ossetian population, Tskhinvali deems it a ?puppet? of Tbilisi’s.

?Sanakoev represents the Georgian authorities and we do not see any reason why [Sanakoev] should be involved in the talks,? Yuri Popov told reporters. ?He [Sanakoev] does not constitute a side in the conflict.?

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