Official Statement of the GMoFA: Reply of the Press and Information Department to the News-Georgia Agency
July 29, 2008
Question: How would you comment the statement of vice commander of the Joint Peacekeeping Force in the Tskhinvali Region V. Ivanov that illegal armed gangs opened fire on 28 July 2008 at a trilateral group of military observers and OSCE officers carrying out monitoring in the conflict zone?
Reply: Such incidents have already become a common sight in the Tskhinvali region. Bandit groupings of the criminal regime open fire either in the direction of Georgian villages or Georgian police checkpoints or Georgian peacekeeping forces. Besides, illegal armed gangs try to open fire from the positions that is sure to bring Russian peacekeepers under the Georgian side’s response fire.
It is interesting to note that the command of the Joint Peacekeeping Forces report on the opening of fire by separatists in the direction of the monitoring group comprised of Russian representatives as well. The Russian side should be well aware that the separatist regime rather than being motivated by any kindly feelings for Russia is focused on the appropriation of Russia’s budgetary funds.
We’d also like to focus your attention on another terrorist act in the Gali district that took the life of a young man and left 2 children injured. The information available to us indicates that the mine was planted deliberately in such a manner as to easily attract children’s attention and result in a blast with dire consequences.
It needs to be noted that the situation remains highly complicated in the North Caucasus as well. There are reports of constant armed attacks between local rebels and Russian law-enforcement agencies. A case in point is an attack on police checkpoint within the railway station in the city of Khasav-Yurt, Daghestan, on 28 July, which, according to official reports, left two policemen wounded.
We’d like to reiterate that the only way to achieve de-escalation of the situation in the Caucasus region is through joint efforts. On our part we are ready to cooperate with Russia on the basis of the principles of sovereignty, territorial integrity and non-interference in each other’s internal affairs.
Source: The Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Georgia, July 2008
www.mfa.gov.ge/index.php?lang_id=ENG&sec_id=459&info_id=7107
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