Abkhazian military take measures to guarantee security at sea

The defense ministry of Abkhazia (the self-proclaimed republic in the territory of Georgia) took measures to ensure security at sea, in particular the safety of ships with Russian tourists aboard. This information was disclosed to RIA Novosti over the telephone by Abkhazian defense minister Vyacheslav Eshba when he commented on Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili's order to sink civil ships going to Abkhazia without Tbilisi's permission.

Eshba said that "he latest statements of Saakashvili have changed nothing in Abkhazia, life is going on in a usual mode there."

However he stressed that Sukhumi does not rule out the tragic development of events and regard different statements of Tbilisi with suspicion.

The Abkhazian army is ready to defend the people. "Georgia will not be able to unleash a 'small victorious war'," Eshba stressed.

Replying to the question why official Tbilisi does not want to fully restore the railway communication between Sochi (a big Russian resort town in the Russian Krasnodar Territory neighboring on Abkhazia) and Sukhumi, he explained that this railway branch does not have military-strategic importance for Abkhazia. "All the cargoes can be delivered along the motor roads on such a small territory," the defense minister said.

The commissioning of the railway would improve the economic situation in Abkhazia. "But Tbilisi believes that the worse for Abkhazia, the better for Georgia," he supposed.

"Our opinion is different. I personally believe that both Abkhazia and Georgia should be prosperous," Eshba concluded.