CoE Chief Concerned over S.Ossetia Tensions

Terry Davis, Secretary General of the Council of Europe, said he was “very concerned” about increased tensions in the South Ossetian conflict zone.

“Even if, so far, we do not have a clear picture of what is happening and who is responsible, we know that people are being killed and injured, and that someone is sitting on a powder keg and playing with fire,” Davis said in a statement released on July 4. “Everyone with influence in that part of Georgia, including the governments in Tbilisi and Moscow, should do their utmost to prevent any further escalation. People in South Caucasus should not endure another war.”

Two men were killed in Tskhinvali and a secessionist-controlled village in the conflict zone and at least eight were injured as a result of an overnight shootout and shelling between South Ossetian and Georgian forces on July 3-4.