UN council votes to keep UN mission in Georgia
(Refiled to add dropped word in paragraph 9)
By Claudia Parsons
UNITED NATIONS, Oct 9 (Reuters) - The Security Council on Thursday renewed the mandate of the U.N. mission in Georgia's breakaway region of Abkhazia for four months to give Russia and the West time to agree on a long-term U.N. role there.
The force has been in Georgia since 1993 and has more than 120 military observers in Abkhazia. It does not operate in the separatist region of South Ossetia, where Tbilisi tried to regain control in August, prompting a Russian invasion.
The new mandate of the U.N. observer mission in Georgia, or UNOMIG, will expire on Feb. 15, 2009 -- after a new president takes office in the United States, which has been a vocal supporter of Georgia and critic of Russia's actions there.
Using obscure language and reference numbers, drafters of the seven-line resolution managed to avoid using the word "Georgia" -- a compromise between Russia and those who condemn Moscow's recognition of Abkhazia and South Ossetia as independent states.
U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad said Russia wanted to change the name of the mission and to invite representatives of the two breakaway states to the United Nations -- steps that could be seen as endorsing Russia's view that Abkhazia and South Ossetia are no longer part of Georgia.
Khalilzad said Russia had tried to hold the resolution hostage to those conditions.
"We were absolutely clear... that there would be no change in the name, there would be no advantage gained for the puppets to be brought in to the Security Council or to a ... meeting as a result of the excessive use of military force," he said.
Russian Ambassador Vitaly Churkin said the name of the U.N. mission would have to be "corrected" and said Security Council members should hear the views of the official representatives of South Ossetia and Abkhazia.
Asked about the length of the mandate extension, Churkin made a thinly-veiled reference to the end of the Bush administration next January: "Some people say it may have the added advantage of some people having left office in a country so closely (involved) with the Georgian aggression in South Ossetia."
Russian troops remain inside South Ossetia and Abkhazia, which Moscow has promised to protect. The European Union has deployed an observer mission of more than 200 with the initial task of monitoring the Russian pullback from buffer zones in Georgian territory around the two breakaway regions.
Internationally mediated talks are due to start in Geneva on Oct. 15 to discuss security in the region.
British Ambassador John Sawyers said it was important that the resolution kept the name, the mandate and the size of the U.N. mission the same, and said it would give breathing space to work out the structure of a future international presence.
It was not clear, however, if UNOMIG would be able to continue its role as a military observer mission inside Abkhazia. Russia has accused the U.N. secretariat of being biased regarding the Georgian war.
Months of skirmishes between separatists and Georgian troops erupted into war in August when Georgia sent troops and tanks to retake South Ossetia, which threw off Tbilisi's rule in 1991-92. Russia responded with a powerful counter-strike that drove the Georgian army out of South Ossetia.
Moscow's troops then pushed further into Georgia, saying they needed to prevent further Georgian attacks. The West has condemned Russia for a "disproportionate response." (Additional reporting by Louis Charbonneau; Editing by David Storey)
By Claudia Parsons
UNITED NATIONS, Oct 9 (Reuters) - The Security Council on Thursday renewed the mandate of the U.N. mission in Georgia's breakaway region of Abkhazia for four months to give Russia and the West time to agree on a long-term U.N. role there.
The force has been in Georgia since 1993 and has more than 120 military observers in Abkhazia. It does not operate in the separatist region of South Ossetia, where Tbilisi tried to regain control in August, prompting a Russian invasion.
The new mandate of the U.N. observer mission in Georgia, or UNOMIG, will expire on Feb. 15, 2009 -- after a new president takes office in the United States, which has been a vocal supporter of Georgia and critic of Russia's actions there.
Using obscure language and reference numbers, drafters of the seven-line resolution managed to avoid using the word "Georgia" -- a compromise between Russia and those who condemn Moscow's recognition of Abkhazia and South Ossetia as independent states.
U.S. Ambassador Zalmay Khalilzad said Russia wanted to change the name of the mission and to invite representatives of the two breakaway states to the United Nations -- steps that could be seen as endorsing Russia's view that Abkhazia and South Ossetia are no longer part of Georgia.
Khalilzad said Russia had tried to hold the resolution hostage to those conditions.
"We were absolutely clear... that there would be no change in the name, there would be no advantage gained for the puppets to be brought in to the Security Council or to a ... meeting as a result of the excessive use of military force," he said.
Russian Ambassador Vitaly Churkin said the name of the U.N. mission would have to be "corrected" and said Security Council members should hear the views of the official representatives of South Ossetia and Abkhazia.
Asked about the length of the mandate extension, Churkin made a thinly-veiled reference to the end of the Bush administration next January: "Some people say it may have the added advantage of some people having left office in a country so closely (involved) with the Georgian aggression in South Ossetia."
Russian troops remain inside South Ossetia and Abkhazia, which Moscow has promised to protect. The European Union has deployed an observer mission of more than 200 with the initial task of monitoring the Russian pullback from buffer zones in Georgian territory around the two breakaway regions.
Internationally mediated talks are due to start in Geneva on Oct. 15 to discuss security in the region.
British Ambassador John Sawyers said it was important that the resolution kept the name, the mandate and the size of the U.N. mission the same, and said it would give breathing space to work out the structure of a future international presence.
It was not clear, however, if UNOMIG would be able to continue its role as a military observer mission inside Abkhazia. Russia has accused the U.N. secretariat of being biased regarding the Georgian war.
Months of skirmishes between separatists and Georgian troops erupted into war in August when Georgia sent troops and tanks to retake South Ossetia, which threw off Tbilisi's rule in 1991-92. Russia responded with a powerful counter-strike that drove the Georgian army out of South Ossetia.
Moscow's troops then pushed further into Georgia, saying they needed to prevent further Georgian attacks. The West has condemned Russia for a "disproportionate response." (Additional reporting by Louis Charbonneau; Editing by David Storey)
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