Saakashvili: Georgian Forces to Remain in South Ossetia

President Saakashvili said on July 20 that the Georgian side will not pull out its troops or dismantle its checkpoints in the South Ossetian conflict zone.

?We can not leave the Georgian villages there without protection. We cannot pin our hopes on Russian peacekeepers and their commander [Viacheslav Nabzdorov] alone,? Saakashvili said on July 20, while addressing the inaugural session of the Adjarian parliament.

?They [the South Ossetian militias] tried to take over the Georgian villages in the conflict zone. They failed,however, because our troops were there. Now they try to force us to leave the conflict zone through agreements and negotiations. But it is not so easy to deceive us. I know what will happen if the Georgian forces withdraw. The Ossetian side will take over the Georgian villages and we won?t be able to control even those areas [in the breakaway region] which are currently under our control. No, we will not pull out our forces from the Georgian villages,? President Saakashvili told later on July 20 to reporters.

Mikheil Saakashvili reiterated once again that Georgia will do its outmost to avoid engaging in an armed conflict. The Georgian President warned that further provocations are anticipated in the region.

He once again accused ?certain forces in Russia? of trying to destabilize the situation South Ossetia. ?Our friendship with Russia ends when they infringe on our state interests, including our territorial integrity,? Saakashvili said.

Georgia undertook commitments to pull out its extra troops from the conflict zone under a protocol signed in frames of the quadripartite Joint Control Commission (JCC) on June 2. Tbilisi reiterated its commitment by signing another protocol during the JCC session in Moscow on July 16.

The conflicting sides, as well as the Russian side, are allowed to have a maximum of 500 soldiers each as a part of the joint ? Russian, Georgian and South Ossetian ? peacekeeping force in the conflict zone.

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