Kyrgyz Authorities Reject Saakashvili’s Mediation Proposal

Kyrgyz President?s spokesman Abdil Segizbayev downplayed Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili?s proposal to mediate in resolving the current crisis in Kyrgyzstan and accused ?some of the Georgian parliamentarians? of acting as ?catalysts of disorders in the south? of the country, RIA Novosti news agency reported on March 23.

The Georgian President?s press office reported on March 22 that Mikheil Saakashvili sent a letter to his Kyrgyz counterpart Askar Akayev calling on him to take a ?more cordial position? towards the opposition in order to prevent bloodshed.

The Georgian President expressed ?concern? regarding the situation in Kyrgyzstan, where the authorities have lost control of several southern cities after thousands of people took to the streets in protest of reported ballot-rigging. Saakashvili also expressed a readiness ?to visit Kyrgyzstan and play the mediator in a constructive dialogue with the opposition.?

?Criminal gangs are controlling the situation in the south of the [Kyrgyz] Republic. If he [Saakashvili] can talk their [criminal] language ? he is welcome,? RIA Novosti reported quoting Kyrgyz President?s spokesman Abdil Segizbayev.

He also said that ?some Georgian parliamentarians acted as catalysts of disorders in the south.? ?And now they want to play the role of peacekeepers,? Abdil Segizbayev said.

Unofficial reports say that one of the Georgian leading parliamentarians from the ruling National Movement party Givi Targamadze, who chairs the Parliamentary Committee for Defense and Security, is visiting Kyrgyzstan. However, Georgian officials refrained on March 23 from confirming this report or comment about the details of purpose of this visit.

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