15:27, 26 May 2004

Burdjanadze denies speculation about military invasion of Abkhazia

Speaker of Georgian Parliament Nino Burdjanadze said that Sukhumi's fears of the possible invasion of Abkhazia by Georgian forces were unfounded. "The Abkhazians have no cause for concern as we consider them our citizens and have no intentions to start a war," she said to journalists on May 25.

According to Ms Burdjanadze, Georgia wants to restore its territorial integrity, and Abkhazia has always been "the common motherland to both Abkhazians and Georgians." "In the same way that the Georgians respect the Abkhazians, the Abkhazians have to respect Georgia's right to this land," she stressed.

Georgians and Abkhazians have lived together for a thousand years and they have never been at war with each other, Ms Burdjanadze noted. "If Sukhumi realizes and understands that the people who were evicted from Abkhazia have the right to go back to the graves of their loved ones and to their homes, then there will never be war again," she said.

Source: Prima News Agency