Georgia warns of risk of 'confrontation' with South Ossetia

Georgia warned Friday of the risk of a "serious confrontation" with Russia-backed South Ossetia after the breakaway region demanded that Georgian authorities remove a checkpoint on its disputed boundary.

The Georgian foreign ministry said it observed "mobilisation of military equipment and personnel" near the village of Chorchana, where the checkpoint has been set up.

The situation risks "escalating into a serious confrontation," Georgia foreign ministry spokeswoman Mari Narchemashvili told AFP.

At talks mediated by the EU and the Organization for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) on Thursday, South Ossetia demanded that Georgian police dismantle the checkpoint before 0300 GMT on Friday, according to one of the delegates at the meeting.

"If this condition is not met, the government (of South Ossetia) will take all legal measures to ensure security of the South Ossetian people and protect the state border," South Ossetian delegate Yegor Kochiev said in televised remarks.

Kochiev is a delegate to the Incident Prevention and Response Mechanism (IPRM), which meets to discuss the security situation under EU and OSCE mediation.

South Ossetia officials say the checkpoint is right next to the village of Uista, known as Tsnelisi in Georgia.

Later Friday, the Russian-backed breakaway republic's president Anatoly Bibilov ordered that a checkpoint be erected nearby, and security officials announced they were starting a "humanitarian operation," without giving details.

"I hope Georgia... will do everything to resolve the instability they caused by their illegal actions," Bibilov was quoted as saying by Russian agencies. "Resolving this issue by force would be highly undesirable."
On Thursday, the OSCE said in a statement that "recent developments along the administrative boundary line had negatively impacted the overall security situation."