TSKHINVALI, South Ossetia. Oct 11 (Interfax-AVN) - The South Ossetian delegation refused to participate in the meeting of co-chairmen of the mixed control commission on Georgian-Ossetian settlement that was to take place in Tbilisi on Thursday, Leonid Tibilov, South Ossetian co-chairman and first deputy prime minister of the self-proclaimed republic, told Interfax-Military News Agency.
Before the South Ossetian leadership makes decision on further participation in the commission's activities Irakly Mechavariani, Georgian President Eduard Shevardnadze's envoy on conflicts settlement, should clear up several statements of Georgian politicians that aroused concern in Tskhinvali, Tibilov said.
Particularly, one of those statements made by Georgian lawmaker Aslan Smirba implied possible involvement of Chechen rebels in the resurrection of the Georgian rule over South Ossetia, which declared independence 11 years ago. "After the Georgian-Ossetian conflict of 1989 to 1992 any militaristic statements cannot be ignored in Ossetia," Tibilov stressed.
The new date of the commission meeting will be fixed on October 15, Tibilov added.