Tskhinvali Talks Fail; Hostages Still Held

Three Georgians detained by South Ossetian militias remain in a Tskhinvali jail, despite talks held on July 11 between South Ossetian de facto President Eduard Kokoev and Russia?s special envoy Lev Mironov, who pledged to facilitate the release of the Georgian peacekeepers.

Around 50 Georgian peacekeepers deployed in the conflict zone were detained by the South Ossetian side on July 8 in the Georgian village of Vanati in the breakaway region. Most of them were released on July 9; however three of them, including the chief of the unit Mikheil Surmava, remain in detention in the breakaway South Ossetian capital of Tskhinvali.

Georgian State Minister for Conflict Resolutions Goga Khaindrava, who participated in an impromptu meeting of the Joint Control Comission in Tskhinvali on July 11, said that the South Ossetian side are offering to exchange the release of the three Georgians for the return of the unguided missiles that the Georgian side seized in breakaway region on July 7.

?They want missiles in exchange for three Georgian soldiers. But we do not exchange our soldiers for missiles,? Goga Khaindrava told reporters after the talks.

On July 7 Georgian troops confiscated two trucks, driven by Russian peacekeepers and loaded with some 300 unguided missiles. Moscow insists that the missiles were intended for the Russian peacekeeping troops deployed in the conflict zone and demands the return of the confiscated arms.

However, Tbilisi claims arms were ?unauthorized? and refuses to return them to South Ossetia. Georgian authorities offered to return the missiles back to Russian territory; President Saakashvili even offered to deliver the arms to the Headquarters of the Russian troops deployed in the trans-caucasus, located in Tbilisi.