25 May 2007, 22:21
Georgia: meeting of Chochiev and Antadze was not planned
The press service of the authorities of South Ossetia has disseminated a statement that "because of the sharply aggravated situation in the conflict zone, a consultative meeting should have taken place in Tskhinval today of co-chairmen of the South Ossetian and Georgian parts of the Mixed Control Commission (MCC) Boris Chochiev and Merab Antadze."
"However, the meeting has failed, because of a sudden refusal of Merab Antadze. It has become known from reliable sources that Merab Antadze was prohibited to go to Tskhinval by the heads of Georgian power agencies, who had explained the ban by the fact that the Georgian party was deliberately escalating the situation in the conflict zone, while getting ready to various armed provocations," the South Ossetian party asserts.
In his turn, a source in the Georgian Ministry for Conflict-Settling told the "Caucasian Knot" correspondent that the meeting of Antadze and Chochiev was not planned. "We intended to hold a meeting of working groups, but the South Ossetian party would not react to our offer," the source noted.
The "Caucasian Knot" has already informed that according to the information from South Ossetia, the MCC co-chairman from this party was going to discuss the situation in the conflict zone with his Georgian counterpart Merab Antadze.
According to South Ossetian information "on May 24 members of Georgian power agencies occupied the heights in the Znaur District of South Ossetia and keep them until now."
Author: Alena Aleschenko, CK correspondent
