OSCE Chairman-in-Office expresses concern at escalation of tension in Georgia

LJUBLJANA, 6 December 2005 - The OSCE Chairman-in-Office, Slovenian Foreign Minister Dimitrij Rupel, today announced his concern at news of the arrest by Georgian military police of two South Ossetian police officers and the detention of three Georgian police and nine civilians by South Ossetian authorities.

He welcomed the subsequent release of the Georgian civilians but expressed the wish that all sides help lower tensions as rapidly as possible and for freedom of movement to be restored.

"I am concerned about this unhelpful escalation in tension in the Georgian-Ossetian zone of conflict, following the tit-for-tat exchange of arrests, stemming from the continued insecurity", he said.

" We need to be able to move ahead in a positive way and recommence the Economic Needs Assessment Study in the zone of conflict, involving international, Georgian and South Ossetian experts as rapidly as possible."

He was speaking after a meeting with the Foreign Minister of Georgia, Gela Bezhuashvili, in the margins of the OSCE Ministerial Council in Ljubljana.