UN Secretary-General meets with Janelidze, stresses need to strengthen Geneva negotiation format for S. Caucasus - Georgian Foreign Ministry
TBILISI. Feb 26 (Interfax) - The United Nations' Secretary-General Antonio Guterres has met with Georgian Foreign Minister Mikheil Janelidze in Geneva to discuss the situation in Abkhazia and South Ossetia, the Georgian Foreign Ministry said on Monday.
At the meeting Guterres stressed the need to intensify the Geneva discussions on the South Caucasus and strengthen this negotiating format, the ministry said.
Guterres noted the importance for the Georgian government to approach settlement of the regional situation peacefully, and declared readiness to support this process further, the ministry said.
For his part, Janelidze informed the UN chief of an incident in Tskhinval, where a Georgian citizen, Archil Tatunashvili, died in custody. The minister reiterated the need to create international security mechanisms in Abkhazia and South Ossetia, the statement said.
He also invited Guterres to visit Georgia.
Janelidze is in Geneva to attend the 37th session of the UN Human Rights Council.
Janelidze told the assembled that Georgians living in Abkhazia and South Ossetia were being discriminated, and there had been instances of human rights abuse, the ministry said. In view of this representatives from the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights and other human rights organizations should be given immediate access to Abkhazia and South Ossetia, the minister said.