Moscow Urges Hesitant Tbilisi To Choose Abkhazia Peacekeepers' Deadline

Moscow is urging Tbilisi to make up its mind about the timetable of Russian peacekeepers' presence in Abkhazia. Sources in the Russian Foreign Ministry's Information and Press Department said that since last October, Russia has repeatedly reminded the Georgian government of the need to make up its mind on the issue given the expiry of the mandate of the CIS Collective Force for Peacekeeping in the Georgian-Abkhazian conflict zone. Moscow diplomats say the issue needs to be dealt with "in the normal legal framework and in compliance with official procedures adopted in the CIS." The Foreign Ministry sources said the mandate of the CIS Peacekeeping Force expired December 31, 2001. The peacekeepers are deployed along the Inguri River separating the Georgian and the Abkhazian side and enforcing the regime of non-resumption of hostilities between them.