MOSCOW. Nov 28 (Interfax-AVN) - Commander of the Joint Peacekeeping Forces in the Georgian-Ossetian conflict zone Major General Marat Kulakhmetov said he is surprised by the Georgian Interior Ministry's claim he has connections to criminals in South Ossetia.
"Any claims of my alleged connections to criminals or training of the South Ossetian armed forces are false. I head the peacekeeping forces and strictly conform to my mandate," Kulakhmetov told Interfax-Military News Agency by telephone from Tskhinvali on Monday.
"Such irresponsible claims of Tbilisi may have a negative effect on the activities of peacekeeping forces deployed in the conflict zone, as they damage the peacekeepers' authority," the general said.
The Georgian Interior Ministry website posted a diagram of the South Ossetian mob on Sunday. The peacekeeping forces commander is rated as a man assisting regional criminals.
The diagram also includes President of the unrecognized republic of South Ossetia Eduard Kokoity, Co-chairman of the Joint Control Commission Boris Chochiyev, the South Ossetian defense minister and his deputies, the State Security Committee chief and the minister for special projects. The Georgian Interior Ministry said that they sponsor criminals and assist contraband, racketeering and abductions.
Head of the South Ossetian Press and Information Committee Irina Gagloyeva told Interfax-AVN on Monday that these accusations are "total fiction."