Tskhinval/Agency Caucasus – Georgia sought to pressurize ethnic groups of Georgians who live in the Leningrad province of South Ossetia, President Eduard Kokoity of South Ossetia said.
Ethnic Georgians living in Leningrad were threatened not to collaborate with the administration in Tskhinval, said Kokoity: "South Ossetia will not allow ethnic Georgian citizens in the Leningrad province to be terrorized."
A security council meeting was held in Tskhinval on Tuesday to deal with growing amounts of pressure on ethnic Georgians. Georgia threatens its citizens with punishment in case they make contact with South Ossetian officials. Collaboration with the administration of South Ossetia would cost the ethnic Georgians living in South Ossetia 20 years in prison, some said.
Kokoity promised during the meeting to protect the ethnic Georgians in South Ossetia: "The administration of South Ossetia will soon take tight precautions not to allow the ethnic Georgians living in the Leningrad province of South Ossetia to be terrorized. The border gate has been closed to stop suspicious entries into the whole of South Ossetia in general, into regions where ethnic Georgians live in particular. All conditions will be available for ethnic Georgians living in this part of South Ossetia to take a job and get their children take a certificate of education. They are our people; we will struggle for their destiny, because we want to build a normal future for them."
South Ossetia’s Interior Minister Mikhail Mindzayev brought up the issue of recent kidnappings by Georgian militia of South Ossetians and people of the Russian Federation. The Georgian militia kept 11 hostages now, said Mindzayev: "Kidnappings began on October 8. Peacekeeping forces were immediately replaced by Georgian police officers in buffer zones. And check points were directly installed along the border with South Ossetia."
The council also dealt with the issue of improving the security at the border between South Ossetia and the Russian Federation. Some people were caught while they were an attempt to smuggle guns through the border, said Kokoity: "We won’t allow this to happen as long as we continue to maintain security checks along the border."
OSRDY/ÖZ/FT
