Security Council stresses need for lasting solution to Georgian-Abkhaz conflict

Though peace talks on the Georgian-Abkhaz conflict are at a virtual standstill, the search must continue for a permanent solution, the United Nations Security Council said today.

Ambassador Adam Thomson of the United Kingdom, which holds the Council's rotating presidency for October, said the 15-member body shared Secretary-General Kofi Annan's concern over the "absence of tangible progress" in the Georgian-Abkhaz peace process.

Council members underlined the need to continue efforts to achieve a lasting political solution of the conflict with the support of the UN, particularly Mr. Annan's Special Representative, Heidi Tagliavini, along with help from the Russian Federation as facilitator and the Group of Friends, he said in a press statement.

The Group of Friends of the Secretary-General are France, Germany, the Russian Federation, the United Kingdom and the United States.

Ambassador Thomson's statement came after the Council heard a closed-door briefing by Ms. Tagliavini on the Secretary-General's latest report on the UN Observer Mission in Georgia (UNOMIG).

In the report, the Secretary-General warned that the peace process had come "perilously close" to a standstill, noting that while Ms. Tagliavini was still in close and frequent contact with both sides, they have not met at the political level since July, and even the regular working level contacts have been suspended.