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| There is quiet in South Ossetia since August 20. |
In a bid to, as President Saakashvili described, show Tbilisi’s willingness for a peaceful solution to the South Ossetian conflict the Georgian side handed over the strategic positions which were captured on August 19 to the joint peacekeeping forces and launched a withdrawal of its extra troops from the conflict zone.
The decision has already been welcomed by the United States, which called all the sides involved in the conflict “to build on this proposal to reduce tensions and to move the political process forward.”
Russian ambassador at large Lev Mironov also hailed the decision. He told reporters in Tbilisi that Georgia follows its commitments over demilitarization of the conflict zone.
Maj.-Gen. Svyatoslav Nabdzorov, commander of the Russian peacekeeping troops, which are the part of the joint peacekeeping forces which also involves Georgian and Ossetian soldiers, confirmed that the hilltops overlooking both Georgian villages and key South Ossetian militia positions near the separatists’ stronghold of Java, are now under the control of the joint peacekeeping forces.
Georgian officials say that South Ossetian militias and mercenaries were shelling the Georgian villages from these strategic positions. The Georgian side reported that 8 Cossack mercenaries from Russia were killed in the fight for these strategic heights. The South Ossetian side, for its part, denied this report. “At the moment there are no Cossacks or any other volunteers in the South Ossetian armed forces,” reported the breakaway South Ossetian Press and Information Committee.
Last night was relatively calm in the conflict zone as no shots were heard in the breakaway region. At least 12 Georgian soldiers have been killed in overnight shellings and skirmishes since August 12.
Simultaneously, Georgia launched a pulling out of its extra troops from the breakaway region, which have been dispatched there since early June. Only the 500 Georgian soldiers which are the part of the joint peacekeeping forces will remain in the conflict zone.
Maj.-Gen. Svyatoslav Nabdzorov also confirmed this report. “Georgia has started to withdraw its troops; however, the process is not over yet. Georgia is following its commitment. A convoy of Georgian troops is moving towards Gori,” he told Interfax news agency on August 20.
However, according to the South Ossetian Press and Information Committee only a portion of the extra Georgian troops are being pulled out from the conflict zone. “Illegal Georgian armed units still remain in the Georgian villages,” de facto Interior Minister of South Ossetian Robert Guliev said.
Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili explained these moves by the Georgian side on August 19 as a willingness to give peace one more chance. “But this will be the last chance for peace,” he warned. He said that 500 Georgian peacekeepers will be stationed in the Georgian villages of the conflict zone in order to ensure the security of those Georgians living in the area.
Georgian Interior Minister Irakli Okruashvili said that the troops will be stationed in Gori, a town in central Georgia which lies some 15 km away from the breakaway South Ossetian capital Tskhinvali. “In the case of further shelling of the Georgian villages these troops will be sent back to the region, directly to Tskhinvali,” Okruashvili told Tbilisi-based Imedi television late on August 19.
“It will take us only 15 minutes to get from Gori to Tskhinvali,” he added.
Meanwhile, the Russian Foreign Ministry issued a hard-worded statement on August 19 condemning Georgia’s forceful moves in the conflict zone, referring specifically to the capture of the key hilltop positions. The statement says that despite the recent ceasefire agreements the Georgian side “renewed military operations” and further accused Tbilisi of escalating tensions in the conflict zone.
The United States backed Georgia’s decision to pull out troops and described it as the “right signal.”
“President Saakashvili today [on August 19] offered a pullback of troops. We certainly welcome this move. It sends the right signal, and we call on all sides to build on this proposal to reduce tensions and to move the political process forward,” Adam Ereli, Deputy Spokesman of the U.S. Department of State, said at a news briefing in Washington on August 19.
He also said that the United States is working very actively with the Georgian government, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), and with Russia “to bring the situation under control and promote a political settlement and dialogue” in South Ossetia.
“What we’re working toward, is to reduce the level of violence and develop a political solution that enhances Georgia’s territorial integrity,” Adam Ereli added.
Now it is expected that the Georgian side will renew its demands over direct talks with South Ossetian separatist leader Eduard Kokoev regarding the political status of the breakaway region. The maintaining of peace and a ceasefire will certainly be a precondition for this.
During separate talks with Georgian Prime Minister Zurab Zhvania and Eduard Kokoev on August 17-18, the co-chairmen of the quadripartite Joint Control Commission, involving the Georgian, South Ossetian, Russian and North Ossetian sides, received guarantees from both Zhvania and Kokoev that they are ready to hold bilateral talks. But neither the venue nor the date of these talks is fixed yet.
Georgia also wants to internationalize the peacekeeping operation in the conflict zone. In a letter sent to the OSCE Parliamentary Assembly Georgian Parliamentary Chairperson Nino Burjanadze says “this [international mandate of the peacekeeping operation] will be a vital precondition for the final resolution of the conflict.”
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 that the joint peacekeeping force stationed in the conflict zone is ineffective.