OSCE Mission Denies Link to S.Ossetia Incident

The OSCE Mission in Georgia has strongly denied breakaway South Ossetia’s allegations that mission observers could have been linked to an attack on a South Ossetian police post, which was allegedly carried out by the Georgian side.

“It is unacceptable that the disinformation first published on the South Ossetian de facto State Press and Information Committee web-site portrays the OSCE as complicit in an action allegedly carried out by Georgian special operations groups without any substantiation or evidence,” the OSCE Mission’s statement issued on April 3 reads. “Such reporting based on initial and unconfirmed reports of the de facto Ministry of Interior, potentially places the lives of OSCE Mission members in danger.

The South Ossetian Press and Information Committee (SOPIC) reported, citing the breakaway region’s Interior Ministry, that at about 6:30pm local time on April 2 four Hummer SUVs approached Andzisi from the Georgian-populated village of Kemerta. The convoy of vehicles, it said, was followed by an OSCE mission vehicle, which later turned away and distanced itself from the convoy. SOPIC said the SUVs then approached the police post and opened fire. The attackers left the scene after South Ossetian militiamen returned fire, it said. It also said that shortly after the incident unidentified people in OSCE military observer uniform were seen walking around the scene.

The OSCE Mission said it had sent a protest letter to the South Ossetian Co-Chairman of the Joint Control Commission, Boris Chochiev, “with the request for corrective action.”

Meanwhile, Georgian media sources reported that a Georgian policeman was injured by an explosion in the conflict zone on April 3.