SUKHUMI. Oct 25 (Interfax-AVN) - President of breakaway Abkhazia Sergei Bagapsh has confirmed Georgian media reports that ex-Georgian presidential envoy in the Kodori Gorge Emzar Kvitsiani is in Abkhazia's Gulripsha district.
"I confirm that he is in this district, since the upper part of the Kodori Gorge is part of this particular district," Bagapsh said at a news conference in Sukhumi on Wednesday.
However, Bagapsh denied Georgian journalists' reports that retired Russian general Yury Netkachev, ex-aide to the deposed Ajarian leader, Aslan Abashidze, is in Abkhazia too, training the Abkhaz military.
"He is not in Abkhazia. I am not even acquainted with him," Bagapsh said.
"We'll not yield to Georgia's provocations in the Kodori Gorge or in the Gali district, but we have to strengthen our armed forces' defense capability and train special squads as a countermeasure, he said.
Kvitsiani, who attempted to prevent the use of force in the Kodori Gorge, has been on a wanted list for over two months now. The Georgian authorities pledged a reward of $57,000 for information about his whereabouts.