During talks in Sukhumi on 7 June with Ambassador Heidi Tagliavini, who is UN Secretary-General Kofi Annan\'s special representative for the Abkhaz conflict, Abkhaz President Sergei Bagapsh rejected as inexpedient the proposed deployment in Abkhazia\'s southernmost Gali Raion of UN police officers. He claimed that Abkhaz police are taking measures to crack down on crime in Gali. On 27 May, the Georgian daily \"Rezonansi\" quoted a Georgian crime expert as saying that 238 people have been killed in Gali over the past two years, and robberies, kidnappings, and the hijacking of cars and buses are also frequent. Visiting Gali on 2 June, Bagapsh attributed the high crime rate to infiltration by criminal elements across the River Inguri, which forms the internal border between the unrecognized Republic of Abkhazia and the rest of Georgia. During his talks with Tagliavini, Bagapsh also rejected her proposal to open a UN Human Rights Office in Gali, saying that such an office already exists in Sukhumi, Caucasus Press reported. Tagliavini told journalists in Tbilisi on 8 June she will continue to push for the opening of a Human Rights office in Gali. (RFE/RL)