UN Extends Its Abkhazia Monitoring Mission

A UN observer mission patrols a camp for displaced persons in Abkhazia (file photo) (Courtesy Photo) UNITED NATIONS, April 13, 2007 (RFE/RL) -- The United Nations Security Council voted unanimously today to extend by six months its monitoring mission in Georgia's separatist region of Abkhazia.

Both the Georgian ambassador to the UN, Irakli Alsania, and his Russian counterpart, Vitaly Churkin, expressed satisfaction with the new resolution and the extension of the mission's mandate.

"It's very important that the resolution does call on the Georgian side -- as far as the Upper Khodori Valley and the situation there is concerned -- to abide by the Moscow agreements of 1994," Churkin said. "It is also calling on the Abkhazian side to act with restraint with regard to commitments of the Georgian side in the Upper Khodori Valley."

Alsania stressed the fact that the Security Council now recognizes the right of the internally displaced people from the armed conflict between Georgia and its breakaway province of Abkhazia to return to their homes.

The UN's observer mission in Georgia is facilitating dialogue between the Georgian and Abkhaz sides to prevent escalation of tensions and to maintain stability in the conflict zone.