Georgian, Ossetian Civilian Prisoners Swapped

63 Georgian civilians, held in Tskhinvali, were exchanged in eight South Ossetian prisoners in the town of Gori on August 21.

Georgian televisions aired footage, which showed mostly women and elderly men among the Georgian civilians who were held by the South Ossetian militias. The Georgian Public Broadcaster also interviewed two elderly South Ossetian civilians, who were handed over to the South Ossetian side.

The exchange was negotiated between the Russian Maj. Gen. Alexander Borisov and the Georgian side, represented by Alexander Lomaia, the chief of the National Security Council; Mamuka Mujiri, the deputy defense minister and Givi Targamadze, a lawmaker who chairs a parliament’s special commission dealing with the issues of persons, who are missing as a result of the conflict.

The Georgian officials said that 101 Georgian civilians are still remaining held in the breakaway South Ossetia’s capital, Tskhinvali. Most of them are residents of the Georgian villages of the conflict zone, which is now under the control of the Russian troops and South Ossetian militias.

The Georgian officials also said that they are in talks over taking the corpses of Georgian servicemen out of the Tskhinvali region.