RFE/RL To Broadcast To Abkhazia, South Ossetia

PRAGUE -- Radio Free Europe/Radio Liberty (RFE/RL) has announced plans to launch daily broadcasts to the breakaway Georgian regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia beginning in November.

The 60-minute daily program will be produced by journalists in RFE/RL's Prague headquarters and correspondents in Georgia (including South Ossetia and Abkhazia) and Russia.

The new broadcasts will be in Russian and will be available on shortwave radio frequencies every day in the evening. Broadcasts may also be available on FM frequencies.

The broadcasts will include news and features and will be interactive with listeners. A website known as "Caucasus Echo" will debut simultaneously with the first broadcasts in November. The web presence will be optimized for dial-up connections, which predominate in the region.

The new program's major objective is reconciliation among people in the regions and the bridging of different viewpoints expressed by the parties to the processes in the region.