South Ossetian Official Abducted

Deputy Special Affairs Minister of breakaway South Ossetia Makhar Gasiyev was detained by the by unknown persons on January 22, Press and Information Committee of South Ossetia reported.

Georgian media also reported that the Georgian side has detained up to 12 Ossetians, including official of the breakaway region?s government.

No other details of the incident are reported so far.

Unconfirmed reports say relatives of Georgian policeman, who is still detained by the South Ossetian side, might be behind abduction of the South Ossetian official.

The Georgian and South Ossetian sides failed to negotiate over release of Lado Chalauri, who is the chief of the police in the Georgian village of Eredvi in the South Ossetian conflict zone.

He was detained by the South Ossetian side on January 20 together with another Georgian policeman Gocha Gvimradze. As a result of talks between the Georgian and South Ossetian sides, Gocha Gvimradze was released on January 20, however chief of Eredvi police Chalauri still remains under detention in the South Ossetian capital Tskhinvali.

South Ossetian side agrees to release Chalauri only in case the Georgian side hands over Oleg Pukhaev, an Ossetian who was arrested by the Georgian police on January 19. He is accused of killing two persons last February.