TBILISI. Jan 20 (Interfax-AVN) - The withdrawal of Russian peacekeepers from the Georgian-Abkhaz conflict zone, where they have been under CIS auspices since 1994, may lead to "a long and bloody war that would bring calamities" to both the Georgian and Abkhaz peoples, said Georgian President Eduard Shevardnadze.
Georgia will make a decision regarding the peacekeepers when the country is "guaranteed against attacks by armed bands supported in every way possible by another country," Shevardnadze told national radio on Monday.
The Georgian National Security Council will consider this problem at a special session on Monday or Tuesday.
Shevardnadze said he "cannot make a decision that could lead to a new tragedy."
It is necessary to think about what might happen after the peacekeepers are withdrawn, bearing in mind that UN military observers, who "helped avoid many tragic incidents," would immediately leave the conflict zone in such a case.
There is "a serious danger" that, after the withdrawal of the peacekeepers, "mercenaries" would again head for Abkhazia to replay the 1998 events in the Gali district, during which up to 60,000 Georgians were ousted from the territory, Shevardnadze said.
The president did not rule out that something of this sort could now happen in the Zugdidi district in western Georgia.
"The country is not yet ready to solve on its own the problems it will face" in case Russian peacekeepers are withdrawn, he said.
Shevardnadze noted that Georgia has been raising the issue of replacement or internationalization of the peacekeeping contingent for years. There are countries ready to send their peacekeepers in the conflict zone, but only after a decision to this effect by the UN Security Council.
The United Nations is not ready at the moment to apply the article of its charter that implies use of force in order to maintain peace, he said.
Friendly countries supporting Georgia also warn that the current format of the peacekeeping operation in Abkhazia does not have an alternative, the president concluded.