SUKHUMI. Feb 21 (Interfax-AVN) - Abkhazia will announce partial mobilization if Russian peacekeepers are withdrawn from the Georgian-Abkhaz conflict zone, Abkhaz First Deputy Defense Minister and Chief-of-Staff Vladimir Arshba told reporters on Friday.
"If Russian peacekeepers who have been operating in the Georgian-Abkhaz conflict zone since 1994 are withdrawn from the area, Abkhazia will announce partial mobilization. Reservists will be also involved," Arshba said.
The Georgian National Security Council recommended on Monday that President Eduard Shevardnadze extend the mandate of the CIS Collective Peacekeeping Forces in the Georgian-Abkhaz conflict zone that expired on December 31, 2002. The president has not yet signed documents to this effect.