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UN:
SECURITY COUNCIL EXTENDS GEORGIA MISSION, VOICES CONCERN AT DEADLY
INCIDENTS:15/10/2007 (MaximsNews Network)
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UNITED NATIONS - / MaximsNews Network /
- 15 October 2007 –
The Security Council today extended the
mandate of the United Nations Observer Mission in Georgia (UNOMIG) for six
months, voicing serious concern over deadly incidents violating the Georgian-Abkhaz
ceasefire.
In a
resolution passed unanimously, the 15-member body noted with concern the
incidents both within and outside the Zone of Conflict, including those on 11
March and 20 September, which Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon characterized as
“the most serious incident involving the Georgian and Abkhaz sides in many
years” in his most recent report on the situation in Abkhazia.
In
today’s resolution, the Council urged “all parties to consider and address
seriously each other’s legitimate security concerns, to refrain from any acts
of violence or provocation, including political action or rhetoric, and to
comply fully with previous agreements regarding ceasefire and non-use of
violence.”
Welcoming
the commitment made by both sides during the two-day UN-sponsored meeting in
Bonn, Germany, this June, the Council called on the parties to “further
increase their bilateral contacts” to reach a peaceful settlement.
The body
also called on both sides to conclude documents on not using violence and on the
return of refugees and internally displaced persons (IDPs).
Some 14
years ago, Georgia and Abkhaz separatists fought a war that forced nearly
300,000 refugees to flee.
The
resolution also highlighted the plight and the right of return of all refugees
and IDPs to Abkhazia, as well as stressing the “need for a perspective of life
in security and dignity in particular for a new generation growing up outside
the area.
In Mr.
Ban’s report made public earlier this month, he recommended that areas between
the Zone of Conflict and the Kodori Valley – the scene of an attack in March
– be put under international monitoring, with the deployment of unmanned
aerial vehicles and artillery radar.
At the
same time, he underscored the need to “prevent the weakening of the ceasefire
and separation of forces regime.”
UNOMIG
– comprising 129 military observers, 14 police officers as of the end of
August – was established in 1993 and expanded in 1994 to verify compliance
with a cessation of hostilities and separation of forces accord, with patrols of
the Kodori valley a specific part of its mandate. But it stopped patrolling the
upper part of the valley in 2003 when four mission members were held hostage.
Patrols were resumed after a break of three years last December.
Labels: United
Nations, U.N.,
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