|
Georgia President Welcomes Extension of UN Observer Mission in Abkhazia VOA News 3 Feb 2002 03:24 UTC 
Georgian President Eduard Shevardnadze has welcomed a United Nations decision to extend the mandate of its observer mission monitoring the ceasefire in Georgia's breakaway Abkhazia region. The U.N. Security Council council voted late Thursday to continue the mission of 136 U.N. observers to July 31. In the resolution, the Security Council called on both sides to overcome mutual mistrust and work towards a political settlement of their differences.
The Associated Press quotes the Georgian leader saying the Security Council resolution recognizes the borders of Georgia as they stood at the collapse of the Soviet Union. He called the resolution a basis for peaceful talks.
So far, U.N. brokered talks have not been successful.
Ethnic Abkhazians launched a bloody war for independence from Georgia in 1993. The two sides signed a ceasefire the following year, allowing for U.N. and Russian peacekeepers, but periodic fighting continues.
Some information for this report provided by AP.
|