TBILISI. Aug 26 (Interfax-AVN) - A citizen of the Kareli district of Georgia, Giorgi Khatoshvili, who was detained in South Ossetia on August 22, was released on Wednesday night.
According to reports in the Georgian media, Khatoshvili was exchanged for Ossetian police officer Gennady Bakayev, who was detained over a week ago for transporting weapons in the conflict zone.
However, a source in the Shida Kartli region police told Interfax that "there was no exchange." No further comment was made on the subject.
Earlier, a source in the Georgian Interior Ministry told journalists that the police would under no circumstances exchange the Georgian citizen for "a militant who transported weapons."
South Ossetia is legally a province of Georgia, but a conflict in the 1990s led to its de facto independence. Tensions between Tbilisi and Tskhinvali have escalated in recent weeks, as Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili has stepped up efforts to restore control over South Ossetia. Over the past month, shootings have occurred in the conflict zone on several occasions.