UN plans to maintain military observer mission in Georgia

Sep 17, 2008, 19:09 GMT

New York - The United Nations plans to renew the mandate of its military observer force in Georgia by mid-October, but the situation may change after an international agreement is reached to monitor the conflict in that country, a UN official said Wednesday.

The UN, the European Union and the Organization for Security Cooperation in Europe are to meet in Geneva next month to decide on an international mechanism to end the conflict between Georgia and Russia, which erupted over the break-away province of South Ossetia in August.

Newly appointed UN undersecretary general for peacekeeping operations, Alain Le Roy of France, said the UN force will get a new mandate of several months from October 15.

'What we are trying to achieve before there is an international agreement is not to change the scope of the mandate and leave it to the Geneva conference to find a mechanism for South Ossetia and Abkhazia,' Le Roy said.

The current UN force, with 130 military observers and a small police force, had been mandated to monitor a ceasefire between the breakaway Georgian province of Abkhazia and Tbilisi. But the war over South Ossetia and the Russian invasion of Georgia changed the situation.

South Ossetia and Abkhazia have declared independence from Georgia and been recognized by Russia. Russia has mostly withdrawn from Georgia proper, but maintains troops in the two territories.