TBILISI. Nov 19 (Interfax-AVN) - Georgia has decided not to hold an anti-criminal operation in the west of the country.
"The conduction of a large-scale anti-criminal operation in this region adjacent to Abkhazia is not possible at the moment," police chief of the Mingrealia-Upper Svanetia district Elgundzha Dzhamburia told Interfax-Military News Agency on Tuesday.
In order to hold the operation, Georgia needs to deploy additional police forces in the 12km-long security zone, which will cause an inadequate response from Abkhazia and might lead to undesirable consequences.
"Before starting the operation we need to carry out political consultations on the matter with the Abkhaz party," Dzhamburia said.
He stressed that search operations will be held by local police far the administrative border with Abkhazia.
The use of the Interior Ministry troops, like it happened in the Pankisi gorge and near the self-proclaimed South Ossetian Republic, was not originally planned.