Tbilisi Tries to Involve Abkhaz Government-in-Exile in Talks

Foreign diplomats who go for talks in Sokhumi will also have to meet with the Tbilisi-backed Abkhaz government-in-exile, which will be based in upper Kodori Gorge, President Saakashvili said on September 26.

?We have notified foreign diplomats that after visiting Sokhumi they should also travel to Chkhalta [a village in upper Kodori Gorge, where the Abkhaz government-in-exile will be located]? This route will be included in a protocol, which is very significant change,? Saakashvili said.

He said that chairman of the Abkhaz government-in-exile Malkhaz Akishbaia is a western-educated and highly-qualified person who will be able to negotiate with foreign diplomats.

Abkhaz leader Sergey Bagapsh told Interfax news agency on September 27 that Sokhumi will have to revise the current negotiating format if foreign diplomats start to travel to Kodori for talks with the ?puppet government.?

This post is also available in: ქართული (Georgian) Русский (Russian)