MOSCOW. Nov 16 (Interfax-AVN) - Georgia will start replacement of its peacekeeping battalion within the Joint Peacekeeping Forces on Wednesday and end it on Saturday, Lieutenant Colonel Vladimir Namestnikov, the forces' chief-of-staff, told Interfax-Military News Agency.
"Only a new shift of observers from the Georgian peacekeeping battalion will arrive at the conflict zone late on Tuesday," Namestnikov said.
All the 500 servicemen of the Georgian battalion must be replaced before Saturday, he stressed.
Colonel Pyotr Goguadze, commander of the Georgian peacekeeping battalion, told Interfax-AVN that "the rotation is not planned, but it has been coordinated with the Joint Peacekeeping Forces command."
Asked to comment on South Ossetian concerns over frequent replacement of the Georgian battalion personnel, Goguadze said, "It is up to the Georgian Defense Ministry leaders, the Joint Peacekeeping Forces command, and Joint Control Commission co-chairmen to decide how often rotations are to be held."