TBILISI. Jan 21 (Interfax-AVN) - Georgia and Abkhazia have established February 9-10 as the date for consultations on developing a mechanism of international guaranties in the conflict area, Abkhaz Foreign Minister Sergei Shamba told Interfax-Military News Agency by phone on Wednesday.
"We have settled with Georgian representatives that consultations on developing a mechanism for international guaranties in the Georgian-Abkhaz conflict zone would be held on February 9-10; the place will be determined later," the minister said.
He said that the issue is very pressing because more and more often subversive teams infiltrate to Abkhazia from West Georgia.
"In the event that any of the parties of a conflict claims that the other party violates the conditions of peaceful settlement, there must be a mechanism of investigation of such violations to provide political pressure on the violator," Shamba went on.
He emphasized that the consultations would involve representatives of the UN Secretary General's Group of Friends on Georgia (France, Germany, Russia, Great Britain, and the U.S.) at a level of these countries' ambassadors to Georgia.
The first such meeting, according to Shamba, was held in July 2003.
"The next meeting was bound for this fall in Tbilisi but it was delayed twice: first the Georgian authorities were not ready to ensure the security of the Abkhaz delegation, and then came the change of power in Georgia," Shamba said.