Prime Minister Zurab Zhvania confirmed on August 25, that Chief of Staff of the Georgian Armed Forces Major General Givi Iukuridze will be dismissed.
The Georgian Prime Minister told reporters in Batumi that Givi Iukuridze will be appointed as Georgia?s military attach?; however he did not specify to which country.
Prime Minister did not comment the decision saying that Defense Minister Giorgi Baramidze is to make an official statement. The new Chief of Staff was not yet named. Iukuridze was appointed the Chief of Staff of the Georgian Armed Forces in February 2004.
Decision to dismiss Iukuridze comes as a surprise, as in April President Saakashvili said, ?while I am the President? Chief of Staff of the Armed Forces Givi Iukuridze will remain on his position.”
Georgian media reports that the decision to dismiss the Chief of Staff comes after analysis of the reasons for the military casualties in South Ossetia in August.
According to the Georgian Healthcare Ministry 19 Georgian soldiers were killed and 45 other injured in clashes with the South Ossetian militias.