11:36, 9 January 2004

Quadripartite meeting between Georgian and Abkhazian sides with participation of Russian peacekeepers and UN military observers, first in 2004

A quadripartite meeting between the Georgian and Abkhazian sides with the participation of Russian peacekeepers and UN military observers, the first one in 2004, took place in the village of Chuburkhindzhi, Abkhazia's Gali district, on January 8.

At the meeting, the Abkhazian side flatly refused to give lawyers to several residents of Georgia' Tsalendjikha district who had been detained the other day on the accusation of "illegal crossing the Abkhazian border." Six residents of the district were arrested when they were cutting trees and floating them along the Ingur River.

It its turn, the Georgian side accused the Abkhazian law-enforcement agencies of exceeding their authority since the wood-cutters were detained on the "neutral territory", as the representatives of Georgia think.

The Georgian representatives also accused the Russian peacekeepers who patrol the conflict zone of inactivity. 12 people have been abducted, three of whom have been killed, in the conflict zone through the fault of the Abkhazian side for the last two weeks, by information of the Georgian side.

Source: Novosti-Gruzia Information Agency