OSCE Chairman, South Ossetian Leader Held Phone Talks

In a telephone conversation, the OSCE Chairman-in-Office, Bulgarian Foreign Minister Solomon Passy, and the South Ossetian Leader, Eduard Kokoev, discussed the situation in breakaway South Ossetia, the OSCE press office reported on September 9.

?Passy and Kokoity expressed their confidence that a resolution to the conflict could only be found by peaceful means, through dialogue between the South Ossetian and the Georgian sides,? the press release issued by the OSCE reads.

Kokoev and Passy also discussed the possibilities for the continuation of the negotiation process with the active co-operation of the Bulgarian OSCE Chairmanship.

In late August the South Ossetian side ruled out Bulgarian capital Sofia, which was proposed by Solomon Passy as a venue for the top level talks between the Georgian and South Ossetian sides. The South Ossetian side cited that Bulgaria was providing Georgia with arms.

A group of Ambassadors accredited to the OSCE visited Tskhinvali, the capital of the self-styled republic on September 8 and met with Eduard Kokoev.

The Press and Information Committee of the South Ossetian unrecognized republic reported that Eduard Kokoev expressed protest over the fact that ?certain OSCE member countries were providing Georgia with arms.?

Eduard Kokoev stressed importance of the international organizations in the process of the conflict settlement, however noted that the OSCE fails ?to fully use its capacities.?

He also accused the OSCE of siding the Georgian side. ?Very often during the joint monitoring [conducted by the joint peacekeeping troops and observers from the OSCE], the representatives of the OSCE refuse to detect the Georgian side?s violations in the conflict zone,? Eduard Kokoev stated.