South Osetian security agencies go on higher state of alert

Law-enforcement and other security agencies in South Osetia have gone on higher state of alert.

"The decision was made to reinforce security in the republic on the eve of the parliamentary elections set for May 23 in order not to allow provocations on the part of external and internal forces interested in the destabilization of the situation in the region," Djemal Karkusov, Security Council secretary of the breakaway republic of South Osetia said in a phone interview on May 17.

"Statements by the Georgian leadership on the possible export of the Rose Revolution to our republic cause special anxiety. We consider them provocative. That is why the South Osetian law-enforcement agencies have gone on higher state of alert," he said.

"The scenario according to which the Georgian authorities managed to turn developments in Adjaria is not possible in South Osetia. The Georgian-Osetian conflict can be settled only on the basis of negotiations," the head of the South Osetian Security Council noted.

"All the conflict parties must be totally aware of tragic consequences for the peoples the attempts to resolve the problem by force can lead to," he said.