MOSCOW. July 25 (Interfax-AVN) - Abkhazia will have to cope with a large influx of refugees if Georgia uses force in the Kodori Gorge, said Raul Khajimba, the vice president of the self-proclaimed republic of Abkhazia.
"The number of refugees, mainly women and children, could number 2,000, " he told Interfax on the phone from Sukhumi.
Although Abkhazia has tense relations with the Svans, the ethnic group living in the upper parts of the Kodori Gorge, Khajimba said: "We are not going to make war on women and children and we shall allow them to go to Abkhazia to save them from shelling."
"I think that in our place any civilized nation would do the same thing," he said.
The destabilization of the situation in the upper parts of the Kodori Gorge will negatively affect the conflict zone in general. "Naturally, we fear that the Georgian authorities may use this situation for a possible attempt to intervene in Abkhazia," Khajimba said.
The current situation is complicated and tense, he said, adding "We are still hoping for a continuation of the cease-fire in the region,"