Georgia Wants International Peacekeeping Operation in South Ossetia

In a letter sent to the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly Georgian Parliamentary Chairperson Nino Burjanadze urged for internationalization of the peacekeeping operations in breakaway South Ossetia.

Tripartite ? Russian, Georgian, Ossetian – peacekeeping troops have been stationed in the conflict zone for the past decade.

?This [international mandate of the peacekeeping operation] will be a vital precondition for the final resolution of the conflict,? Nino Burjanadze says in her letter.

Georgian authorities accuse Russian peacekeepers of siding with South Ossetian separatists. Head of the OSCE Mission to Georgia Ambassador Roy Reeve said at a news briefing in Tbilisi on August 19 that the joint peacekeeping force stationed in the conflict zone is ineffective.