Georgia, Abkhazia exchange first hostages
Two days after senior Abkhaz and Georgian
government officials signed an agreement in Sukhum (see "RFE/RL Newsline,"
4 February 2000), Georgia handed over the bodies of three Abkhaz customs
officials shot dead last month, Caucasus Press reported. In exchange, the
Abkhaz authorities released three Georgian hostages. A group of Georgians
continues to block the Georgian side of the bridge over the Inguri River,
which forms the internal border between Abkhazia and the rest of Georgia,
to demand the release of five Georgians held by the Abkhaz, Caucasus Press
reported on 7 February. Tbilisi says those five are all civilians, while
the Abkhaz authorities claim that some of them have been convicted for
war crimes committed during the 1992-1993 fighting, according to AP. The
Georgian authorities, for their part, continue to hold two Abkhaz. LF
=A9 2000 RFE/RL, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
=A9 2000 RFE/RL, Inc. All Rights Reserved.
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