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Tuesday, 13 July 2004
GEORGIA WANTS MANDATE OF PEACEKEEPERS IN SOUTH OSSETIA CHANGED
By empty (7/13/2004 issue of the CACI Analyst)
Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili said on 12 July before his departure on a three-day official visit to Great Britain that the mandate of the Russian peacekeeping forces deployed in the South Ossetian conflict zone should be changed because those forces openly side with the South Ossetian authorities. Saakashvili further accused Russian military intelligence of fuelling the conflict in South Ossetia, and he said that the Georgian government knows \"precisely\" who in Moscow is channeling weaponry to the breakaway republic. In 1993, the Georgian authorities produced a dossier detailing weapons transfers to Abkhazia organized by senior Russian military officials.
Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili said on 12 July before his departure on a three-day official visit to Great Britain that the mandate of the Russian peacekeeping forces deployed in the South Ossetian conflict zone should be changed because those forces openly side with the South Ossetian authorities. Saakashvili further accused Russian military intelligence of fuelling the conflict in South Ossetia, and he said that the Georgian government knows \"precisely\" who in Moscow is channeling weaponry to the breakaway republic. In 1993, the Georgian authorities produced a dossier detailing weapons transfers to Abkhazia organized by senior Russian military officials. Georgian Minister for Conflict Resolution Giorgi Khaindrava said later on 12 July that the mandate of the peacekeepers in South Ossetia should be extended to cover the entire territory of the unrecognized republic. (RFE/RL)