SUKHUMI. Jan 21 (Interfax-AVN) - The UN will heed the positions of all parties, including Abkhazia, while finally defining a new mandate for the UN mission in Georgia and Abkhazia, UN special envoy Johan Verbeke said after talks with Abkhaz President Sergei Bagapsh.
Verbeke is in Abkhazia for consultations on a new mandate for the UN mission.
Final consultations on this issue will be held at the UN Security Council on February 10, he said.
During talks with Verbeke Bagapsh said again that Abkhazia insisted on a new name for the mission, Abkhaz presidential spokesman Kristian Bzhania told journalists.
"We oppose the technical extension of the UN monitors' presence in the republic. The mission's mandate status must match the new reality," Bagapsh said.
But he said that, "Abkhazia is prepared to continue cooperating with the UN mission, because its presence in the republic seriously benefits the settlement of relations between Abkhazia and Georgia."
Bagapsh also said that the basic rights and liberties of Abkhazia residents wishing to travel abroad must not be restricted. "On some occasions, residents of Abkhazia were denied entry visas to European countries, including for medical treatment," the president said.