Significant Step Forward in Dealing with Abkhazian Conflict – Kofi Annan States

(Tbilisi, January 24, Civil Georgia) – “The political process in dealing with the situation in Abkhazia, Georgia, took a significant step forward last month,” UN Secretary General Kofi Annan says in his latest report to the Security Council on the situation in Abkhazia, UN news center reports.

The progress was achieved when after two years of discussion, UN Secretary General’s Special Representative in Georgia, Dieter Boden, was able to finalize a paper on the basic principles for the distribution of competences between Tbilisi and Sukhumi [capital of unrecognized Republic of Abkhazia], the Secretary-General reports.

All the countries with an interest in the situation, including Russia, known as the Group of Friends of the Secretary-General, support the document. Only Abkhazian side has some objections.

UN Secretary General also notes that the tensions remain high with the continuing presence of Georgian troops in the upper Kodori gorge and the uncertainty over the mandate of the peacekeeping force from the Commonwealth of Independent States.

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