UN role in Georgia unclear as conflict is unresolved (Roundup)

Oct 6, 2008, 20:05 GMT

New York - UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon said Monday the small UN military observer force in Georgia cannot be given a clear mandate because of the unsettled Russia-Georgia conflict that erupted in August.

The 134-strong UN force known as UNOMIG was pulled out of the strategic Kodori Valley in Georgia when fighting between Russian and Georgian troops spread from South Ossetia to Abkhazia in the first half of August. UNOMIG was monitoring the valley that separated Tbilisi and Abkhaz separatists.

Both South Ossetia and Abkhazia have seceded from Tbilisi after the fighting ended and their declarations of independence were recognized by Moscow. Russia has stationed military troops in those two enclaves to protect Russian ethnics there.

Ban asked the UN Security Council to extend the presence of UNOMIG until mid-February pending negotiations in Geneva beginning on October 15 to resolve the conflict. He said UNOMIG cannot be given a clear mandate unless the conflict is resolved.

'In particular, there is as yet little clarity as to the future status of what has so far constituted the area of responsibility of UN military observers force in Georgia (UNOMIG), namely the security zone, where no military presence was permitted, the restricted weapons zone, where no heavy weapons could be introduced, and the Kodori Valley,' Ban said.

'Under these circumstances, it is too early at this stage to define the role that UNOMIG may play in the future,' he said.

He pointed out that as long as the UN involvement in the Georgian-Abkhaz conflict is seen as helping to prevent future conflict, then UNOMIG may be called upon to make a contribution.

Ban called for future arrangements to ensure the prevention of the resumption of conflict and the protection of vulnerable groups,

Ban said the UNOMIG's presence in Georgia remains 'important.' Tbilisi and Abkhazia have voiced support for the UN force to remain, he said. He said differences between the two sides need to be resolved.

'In this respect as well, the UN mission's contribution will continue to be important and its good offices role, in particular, could be as relevant as ever in seeking to resolve the multiplicity of issues that are bound to emerge in the upcoming period,' Ban said.

Moscow and Tbilisi accused each other of starting the fighting in South Ossetia on the same day the Summer Olympic Games opened in Beijing on August 8. Ban's report said Russia reportedly sent 9,000 troops and 350 units of armoured vehicles in the operation, first in South Ossetia and then into Georgia proper.

The report said the Russian troops were not part of the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS), a peacekeeping force created under the Moscow Agreement in 1994.

'The Russian Federation called this introduction of troops a 'peace enforcement operation',' the report said. 'The Government of Georgia characterized it as an 'aggression'.'