It's been announced that seven Abkhazian border guards will be released by Georgia and taken to Sukhumi, the breakaway republic’s capital, in two days' time. They were detained by Georgian troops after a shootout on the border in late September.
The Georgian Conflict Resolution Minister, David Bakradze, made the statement after talks with the Abkhazian Foreign Minister, Sergey Shamba, on Thursday. The Georgian official has called the release a gesture of goodwill. Earlier, Tbilisi had been intending to prosecute the seven men for an alleged border violation and an attack on Georgian troops. The seven Abkhazians were seized on the September 20 after a firefight, which left two people dead, broke out on the border between the two countries. The UN investigation into the incident proved that the shootout took place on Abkhazian territory. At the same time the report said the attacked unit might have been pursued there from Georgian territory. Another result of Thursday’s meeting is that the conflicting sides will now resume weekly meetings to discuss the state of the ceasefire agreement that has been suspended for some time.