Head of Mission to Georgia dismisses 'preposterous' disinformation campaign

TBILISI, 6 October 2008 - The Head of the OSCE Mission to Georgia, Ambassador Terhi Hakala, called today for the immediate halt to the spreading of inflammatory disinformation, saying it was a direct threat to the security of OSCE personnel.

"The OSCE and its Mission on the ground is committed to its urgent task of contributing to building peace and security," she said.

"I am outraged to see the continuation of disinformation leveled at the Mission which appears to aim at undermining the OSCE's efforts to contribute to peaceful conflict resolution. To suggest that the OSCE had any connection whatsoever with the recent explosion is preposterous and highly dangerous for the already tense security situation," she said, referring to Friday's explosion in Tskhinvali in which at least 11 people died, including Russian troops.

Ambassador Hakala condemned previous attempts to broadcast entirely unfounded allegations against the OSCE.

"The spreading of untruthful propaganda about the Mission - which includes several previous entirely false accounts connected with OSCE staff and premises - is a serious matter, endangers OSCE personnel and may be taken as a signal of unwillingness on the part of those responsible to work constructively," she said.

Ambassador Hakala joined the OSCE Chairman-in-Office, Finnish Foreign Minister Alexander Stubb, in expressing her condolences to the families of those who were killed by the explosion, and wished those injured a speedy recovery.