OSCE Chairman alarmed at detention of Mission Officers in Georgian-Ossetian conflict zone

BRUSSELS, 12 July 2006 - The OSCE Chairman-in-Office, Belgian Foreign Minister Karel De Gucht, expressed great concern today at the actions of South Ossetian officers who detained at gunpoint unarmed military monitors from the OSCE Mission to Georgia on 11 July.

The two Military Monitoring Officers were conducting a normal patrol in the zone of the Georgian-Ossetian conflict when they were surrounded by a group of heavily armed South Ossetian personnel, detained on the spot for almost an hour and prevented from communicating with their headquarters. They were then taken under close guard to Tskhinvali. They were later released.

"This was an extremely serious incident involving the threat of armed force against unarmed diplomatic personnel," said the Chairman-in-Office.

"The fact that armed South Ossetian officers physically entered the OSCE vehicle to take the Military Monitoring Officers to Tskhinvali is a breach of internationally recognised diplomatic practice."

Minister De Gucht has demanded an explanation from the South Ossetian authorities and a clear commitment there will be no repetition of such actions.