Feb 23, 2006

Abkhazia: UN Envoy Meets Abkhaz Officials


UN Secretary Generals Special Representative Tagliavini met Foreign Minister Shamba and stated that the UN Security Council will consider the extension of the UN Observer Missions mandate in Georgia and a resolution on Abkhazia
UN Secretary General’s Special Representative to Georgia Heidi Tagliavini met with Abkhaz Foreign Minister Sergey Shamba and Prime Minister Alexander Ankvab on February 21 in Sokhumi and discussed the results of the Georgian-Abkhaz talks held in Geneva on February 2-3, the Apsnypress news agency reported.

According to this report, during the talks Heidi Tagliavini stressed the necessity of opening a UN Human Rights Office and introducing a UN police component in the Gali district of Abkhazia to consult the local law enforcers.

The UN envoy also said that in late March the UN Security Council will discuss the issue of prolonging the UN Observer Mission’s mandate in Georgia and adopt a resolution on Abkhazia. In January the UN Security Council extended the UN mandate FOR only 2 months - until March 31.

Apsnypress also quoted the Abkhaz Foreign Ministry as saying that the delegation of the UN Secretary General’s Group of Friends on Georgia, involving diplomats from Germany, France, the Russian Federation, the United Kingdom, and the United States, will visit Sokhumi in early March.

Source: Civil.Ge