Georgian Civilians Kidnapped in Abkhaz Conflict Zone

At least 11 civilians were kidnapped from the Georgian village of Ganmukhuri on January 11, after an armed group, described by Georgian officials as ?Abkhaz criminals,? raided the village.  The village is located in the Zugdidi district of the Samegrelo region, at the administrative border between breakaway Abkhazia and the rest of Georgia.

Reports say that several other Georgian villages located in the Gali district of Abkhazia were also raided on January 11.

Georgian Prime Minister Zurab Zhvania condemned this kidnapping of civilians and warned, at a news conference late on January 11, that the Georgian authorities will undertake ?serious and very strict measures to release the kidnapped persons.?

?We are not going to tolerate this kind of actions against our citizens,? he added.

Some Georgian officials linked the incident, which came on the eve of the January 12 presidential elections in breakaway Abkhazia, to an attempt by certain forces in the unrecognized republic to thwart the polls.

?There were cases when [certain persons] were campaigning in the Gali district for people not to go to the polling stations, so the recent raid [on the village of Ganmukhuri] was part of this anti-election campaign, attempting to intimidate people,? Gigi Ugulava, the Governor of Samegrelo region told Rustavi 2 television.