Press and Information Committee of the unrecognized republic South Ossetia informs that South Ossetian delegation is led by Yuri Morozov, de facto Prime Minister of the unrecognized republic South Ossetia, and the North Ossetian side is led by Ermak Dzansolov, Deputy Prime Minister.
The meeting of Eduard Kokoity, de facto president of the unrecognized republic South Ossetia, and Teimuraz Mamsurov, president of North Ossetia is scheduled for August 11 in Vladikavkaz
Cabinet Meeting To Be Held On Thursday
Prime-News was told at the administration of Georgian government that Giorgi Arveladze, Minister of Economic Development of Georgia, would present draft resolution, which envisages handing of some buildings and territories to Tbilisi municipality and handing of state owned property to autonomous republic Adjara.
The government will also discuss project “Supply of refugees’ families with wood in winter period. The project will be presented by Gioorgi Kheviashvili, Minister for Refugees and Accommodation of Georgia.
Alexander Lomaia, Minister of education and Science of Georgia will present a draft resolution on “Granting presidential scholarship to graduates of Abkhazian State University and University of South Ossetia and allocation of funds from presidential fund”.
The Cabinet will also discuss memorandum between the government of Georgia and “Energy Aragvi” JSC. The project will be presented by Nika Gilauri, Minister o Energy of Georgia.
It is also planned to consider action plan of state strategy regarding refugees, GSP+ regime in Georgia and other issues.
Ban Ki-moon Interested In Investigation Of August 06 Attack On Georgia
Ban Ki-moon stated about that at the briefing after the meeting with Irakli Alasania, Permanent Representative of Georgia to the United Nations on Wednesday.
Ban Ki-moon mentioned that this assault posed a great threat not only to the Georgian state, but also to the peace and security in the region.
At the meeting, Alasania provided the UN Secretary-General with the updated information on the August 06 attack on Georgia and informed on the work and findings of the Independent Inter-governmental Expert Group (IIEG) recently established with the aim to verify and evaluate the attack evidences collected by the Georgian Authorities. The significance of a full and thorough assessment of the assault in question, as well as of the previous bombings of Upper Abkhazia (Kodori gorge) respectively on 25 October 2006 and 11 March 2007, inter alia for preventive purposes, was emphasized.
Irakli Alasania has also stressed that the Georgian side requests to convene a special meeting of the UN Security Council to discuss this sequence of inter-connected attacks on the sovereign state and their effects, among others on the process of peaceful resolution of the conflicts on the Georgian soil.
Permanent Representative of Georgia to the United Nations also underlined that these attacks explicitly stipulate the need of adjusting security mechanisms to the present-day realities through re-visiting the existing legal instruments on security arrangements and peacekeeping.
At the meeting, the Permanent Representative of Georgia handed to the UN Secretary-General a letter of Minister of Foreign Affairs of Georgia Gela Bezhuashvili, outlining all the abovementioned issues
IGE Published Report On August 06 Incident
Prime-News was told at the Ministry of Georgia that the report was agreed by the IGE participants of all four nations including Latvia, Lithuania, Sweden and USA.
Based on the facts found by the IGE and the JMT and OSCE reports, the IGE has made the following findings:
An unidentified aircraft flew from Russian airspace (close to the city of Stepansminda) into Georgian airspace and back again into Russian airspace three times. Every pass was conducted by a single aircraft. The first pass into Georgian airspace lasted less than a minute. The final two passes into Georgian airspace lasted significantly longer and the unidentified aircraft went deeper into Georgian airspace. These two passes took place at approximately 14.13 to 14.24 and 14.31 to 14.42 on 6 August 2007 (all times are GMT). During the last pass into Georgian airspace, the aircraft penetrated as far south as approximately N 42° 04′, E 44° 15′.
A missile impacted in a field close to the village of Tsitelubani at N 42° 02′ 12.25″, E 44° 15′ 32.40″. The warhead did not explode and the missile had burn marks on the rocket motor nozzle. The IGE identified the missile as a Russian designed Kh-58 (AS-II KILTER) anti-radiation missile.
Several eyewitnesses saw an aircraft in the area of the impact around 14.30-15.00 GMT. Some witnesses say they saw an object leaving an aircraft with a trail of smoke. Radar information of the last pass into Georgian airspace (around 14.36) indicates that an object separated from the unidentified aircraft.
The IGE was unable to identify aircraft type or origin. The Georgian Air Force (GAF) does not possess aircraft equipped with or able to launch Kh-58 missiles. The GAF does not operate aircraft able to fly the profile flown by the unidentified aircraft.
The IGE has not been able to verify statements concerning a second impact and a MANP AD being fired at the unidentified aircraft.
The IOE worked from 12 to 14 August 2007. The IGE reviewed the JMT report, the OSCE report and the radar information. On August 13, the IOE visited the missile impact site and the surveillance radar in the vicinity of Gori. The IOE inspected the debris of the missile at the Ministry of Interior. The IGE also visited the Georgian Air Force (GAF) Air Base to inspect the GAF’s Su-25 aircraft. Finally, the IGE visited the Joint Forces Command to review recorded radar information of the events
UN Security Council To Discuss August 06 Incident On Thursday
Gela Bezhuashvili, Foreign Minister of Georgia, told journalists that the UN Department of Peacekeeping Operations would report about the incident. The abovementioned Department got familiar with the report on the work and findings of the Independent Inter-governmental Expert Group (IIEG).
“From the very first day Georgia had evidences that its territory was violated from North with participation of Russian military jets,” Bezhuashvili stated.
According to him, representative of the OSCE chairing country intends to visit Georgia in the end of this week.
Ban Ki-moon, the UN Secretary-General, met with Irakli Alasania, Permanent Representative of Georgia to the United Nations, on Wednesday regarding the incident.According to Ban Ki-moon, this assault posed a great threat not only to the Georgian state, but also to the peace and security in the region.