OSCE Chairman concerned over detention of two OSCE staff in South Ossetia

LJUBLJANA, 12 May 2005 - OSCE Chairman-in-Office Dimitrij Rupel expressed serious concern over the detention on Thursday of two monitoring officers from the OSCE Mission to Georgia by armed men in the zone of the Georgian-Ossetian conflict.

The two were threatened and detained at gunpoint for around an hour by what appeared to be a South Ossetian 'volunteer' armed group near Avnevi, a village south-west of Tskhinvali. They were freed after the intervention of the Joint Peacekeeping Forces.

"I am deeply concerned about this serious violation of existing agreements," the Chairman-in-Office said.

"I urgently call upon the South Ossetian leadership to take all necessary measures to avoid any future such actions against unarmed international observers. It is particularly unfortunate that this incident took place at a time when serious efforts are underway to move forward the peaceful resolution of the Georgian-Ossetian conflict."

Minister Rupel commended the speedy action taken by the Joint Peacekeeping Forces command to defuse the situation. "I am grateful for the rapid response by General Kulakhmetov's command, which helped to calm a potentially critical situation," he said.