13 September 2008, 13:25
Georgian special troops to be deployed in pre-border regions with Abkhazia and South Ossetia
Vano Merabishvili, Minister of Internal Affairs of Georgia, has declared at a press conference that ordinary policemen, now working in the territories, adjacent to Abkhazia and South Ossetia, will be replaced by special troops of the Ministry of Internal Affairs (MIA).
According to the head of Georgian MIA, the decision was made after today's murder in Ganmukhuri village of already second Georgian policeman (the first one was killed three days ago in Karaleti).
According to the Regnum Agency, Mr Merabishvili has also emphasized that "during the years of peace, the MIA of Georgia lost more of its employees in the conflict zones - 19 persons, than during the warfare in Tskhinvali - 14 persons." "This war is not over for the MIA," he has added.
So far, Russian officials gave no comments on this statement of the head of Georgian MIA, the "Russian News Service" reports.
We remind you that on September 7, Russian militaries detained in Tsaishi village, Zugdidi District, Giga Kilasoniya, operator of the 'Public Broadcaster of Georgia', and Emma Gogokhiya, journalist of the 'Rustavi-2' TV Company, who tried to film Russian block-posts.
The "Caucasian Knot" reported earlier that according to information from Georgia, Abkhazian militiamen killed, on the administrative border a resident of the Gali District, a Georgian national Zhilber Kuprava, 65, when in the morning on July 25 he was on his way back to his native village Nabakevi from Zugdidi.
On that occasion, the Abkhazian party had also declared its non-implication in the tragic incident.
Georgian media have reported capture of six local Georgian by Ossetians in Koshki and Disevi villages, Tskhinvali District of South Ossetia, and goofing on the detainees.
These Georgian media assert that in Koshki and Disevi villages Ossetians "poured gasoline on the captives and threatened that if all the ethnic Georgians did not leave the villages, they would burn them and others who lived in these villages," the "Gazeta.Ru" Agency reports.
At the same time, as Irina Gagloeva, Chair of the State Committee for Information and Press of the Republic of South Ossetia, told yesterday the "Rosbalt" Agency that there were no more Georgian hostages in the territory of South Ossetia.