Georgian NSC Discusses Situation in Abkhazia
The Abkhaz side is placing mines in the Gali district and across the administrative border with Georgia proper, Georgian Foreign Minister Gela Bezhuashvili said after a Georgian National Security Council session on December 10.
?We are,” he admitted, “still trying to verify this information.”
?We will recheck this information with the UN observers and make an appropriate response as this is absolutely unacceptable,? Bezhuashvili told reporters. ?People are moving there and the Abkhaz side and Russian peacekeepers will be responsible for any injuries or deaths.?
The allegation follows an earlier one made by the Georgian authorities that Russia had increased its military presence in Abkhazia. The Russians claim to be engaged in a routine rotation of troops.
Alexander Lomaia, head of the National Security Council, said the current situation in Abkhazia was fraught with tension and the possibility of escalation.
?We are monitoring developments carefully and we hope our neighbor [Russia] will be reasonable. We think it is not in anybody?s interest to fuel tension,? Lomaia said.
Meanwhile, Abkhaz Parliamentary Speaker Nugzar Ashuba, currently on a visit to Moscow, rejected Tbilisi’s claims of increased tensions in the conflict zone.
?Russia periodically rotates its peacekeeping battalions,” he told Georgian reporters in Moscow on December 10.
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