The members of the United Nations Security
Council have strongly condemned the kidnapping of two UN observers in Abkhazia,
Georgia, and demanded an immediate release of the hostages
The Council met in closed-door consultations
late Monday afternoon to hear a briefing from the UN Secretariat about
the incident on Sunday, 10 December, in which the two observers, citizens
of Poland and Greece, had been taken hostage while on ground patrol in
the Kodori Valley.
In a press statement after the consultations, the President of the Council, Ambassador Sergey Lavrov of Russia, described the kidnapping as "manifestation of international terrorism" and said Council members would continue to closely follow this matter.
According to UN officials, the United Nations Observer Mission in Georgia, together with the peacekeeping force of the Commonwealth of Independent States and in cooperation with the Government of Georgia and authorities of Abkhazia, were actively involved in the search and investigation of the incident.