TBILISI. June 10 (Interfax-AVN) -- The Russian interdepartmental delegation that arrived in Tbilisi on Monday to discuss the return of Chechen refugees left for the volatile Pankisi Gorge on Tuesday, spokesman for the Georgian Interior Ministry's emergencies directorate Tamaz Chogovadze told Interfax- Military News Agency.
"The six Russians representing the Foreign Ministry, Emergencies Ministry, Interior Ministry, Federal Security Service and Federal Border Guard Service are accompanied by Georgian Interior Minister Koba Narchemashvili en route to Kodori," Chogovadze said.
"The Georgian Interior Ministry guarantees full safety of the Russian officials," he said.
The Russian delegation is led by Deputy Russian Emergencies Minister Yuri Brazhnikov.
He earlier told reporters that "commission members will discuss the transfer of the lists of the refugees living in Pankisi to Russia and the refugees' needs for humanitarian aid."
He said that the lists were made during last year's census in the gorge.
Brazhnikov noted that Russia does not object to the participation of UN observers in the return of the refugees.
"The refugees' return may take place only voluntarily," Georgian Deputy Foreign Minister Kakha Sikharulidze told Interfax- AVN.
According to the Georgian Foreign Ministry, about 4,000 refugees from Chechnya are living in the republic. Many of them started arriving in autumn 1999. Most of the refugees say that they wish to leave for third countries.
The Russian delegation will round up its visit on Wednesday.