Sokhumi Offers Demilitarization of Kodori

Foreign Minister of breakaway Abkhazia Sergey Shamba said on August 9 that the Abkhaz side will pull out troops from lower Kodori Gorge, which it controls, if the Georgian side withdraws forces from the upper gorge.

?Because Georgia sent its troops to upper Kodori, the Abkhaz side had to undertake measures in response. Of course, we can also withdraw our troops if Georgia pulls out its forces from upper Kodori Gorge,? Shamba told Rustavi 2 television via phone.

Georgian Foreign Minister Gela Bezhuashvili said on August 9 that UN observers will be able to launch monitoring of upper Kodori Gorge from August 20, but he also said that Tbilisi will insist on the monitoring of lower part of the gorge as well.

The 1994 Moscow agreement between the Georgian and Abkhaz sides on cease-fire and separation of forces does not specify that the monitoring should be held only in upper Kodori Gorge.

?A regular patrol of the peace-keeping force and international observers will be organized concurrently in the Kodori valley,? the agreement reads.

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