Press Trust of India / United Nations May 29, 2009, 09:50 IST
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has lashed out at Georgia's claim that he was coerced by Russia into amending his recent report on the Caucasus nation.
Last week, Ban's report to the Security Council — in which he wrote that the UN Mission in the country (UNOMIG) has contributed to the local population's overall security but cautioned that an agreement on a revised security regime is needed for lasting stability — was made public.
Yesterday's claim made by Ambassador Alexander Lomaia of Georgia "that the Secretary-General amended his report on Georgia in response to 'Russian blackmail' is categorically rejected," Ban's spokesperson said in a statement.
Lomaia made the claims at a news conference at UN Headquarters in New York. He had said Russia threatened to veto an upcoming Security Council resolution on revamping the UN mission in Georgia's breakaway region of Abkhazia unless the content of Ban's report to the council were changed.
The statement added that the Secretary-General's main concern in the drafting of his report on Georgia has been that "all concerned parties should engage on the substantive issues in question, more specifically on a mechanism to guarantee safety and security in this troubled region."
The issue of a future UN mission in Abkhazia has become contentious after the Georgian-Russian war in the breakaway region of South Ossetia last August, Russia recognises the independence of Abkhazia and South Ossetia while Georgia says these are part of its territory.
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