S. Ossetian, Georgian representatives meet near Tskhinvali
TBILISI. May 31 (Interfax) - Georgian and South Ossetian members of the Incident Prevention and Response Mechanism task force made incompatible statements following a meeting in the village of Ergneti near Tskhinvali on Friday.
Kakhaber Kemoklidze representing the Georgian Interior Ministry said the Georgian participants in the meeting brought up the issue of what they see as unlawful actions by Russian and South Ossetian border guards installing fences on Georgian territory.
"We did not hear any legitimate argument from the South Ossetian and Russian parties at the meeting. We were told that the de facto Tskhinvali authorities and the Russian Federation have a treaty on border protection and, based on it, the demarcation work is being done," Kemoklidze told journalists.
However, Tskhinvali representative Khokh Gagloyev said the border issue was not addressed at the meeting at all.
"The accusations Georgia has been making of late on transferring the [South Ossetian-Georgian] border by 300 meters into the Georgian territory are baseless. And besides, this issue was not discussed at today's meeting at all," Gagloyev told journalists.