Senior UN official meets with Georgia's acting president

A senior United Nations official today met with the acting president of Georgia and confirmed the continued commitment of the world body to the Georgian-Abkhaz peace process in the north western region of the country.

Jean-Marie Guéhenno, Under-Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations, who is visiting the UN Observer Mission in Georgia (UNOMIG), met with Nino Burjanadze a day after President Eduard Shevardnadze resigned.

Mr. Guéhenno emphasized the importance of the observation of the cease-fire agreement and of the UN role in efforts aimed at finding a peaceful settlement of the conflict in Abkhazia, Georgia. He expressed his appreciation for steps undertaken within the constitutional framework aimed at overcoming the recent political problems in the country that led to Mr. Shevardnadze's resignation.

In his most recent report to the Security Council on UNOMIG earlier this month, Secretary-General Kofi Annan welcomed some positive developments in the situation in Abkhazia. The Mission, established almost a decade ago, has some 115 military observers to monitor implementation of a ceasefire agreement that ended a war between Abkhaz separatists and Georgian government forces.

In the report Mr. Annan says the presence of both the Georgian and Abkhaz sides in a UN-chaired brainstorming session in July showed they had made a step forward this year. But he warns that the core political issue - the future status of Abkhazia within the State of Georgia - had not yet been tackled in any meaningful way. He urges both sides, especially the Abkhaz side - which maintains that the issue has already been settled by its declaration of independence several years ago - to start discussing the central issues.