15:17, 7 June 2004

South Osetian side hampers restoration of train service with Tskhinvali

The work to resume the train service with Tskhinvali, which had started on June 3, was suspended on June 5. Residents of the village of Nikozi told journalists that "members of an Osetian armed unit demanded that railroad men stop their work." A report about it from Nikozi was broadcast by some Tbilisi TV companies on June 5. Officials in Tskhinvali give no comments on the matter.

The very same day, June 5, South Osetian law enforces did not let Mikhail Kareli, governor of the Shida Kartli region bordering on South Osetia, and people who accompanied him pass through Tskhinvali when they were on their way to Georgian villages of the region. Special police forces blocked the way to the delegation, and the governor returned to Gori, which is 35 kilometers away from Tskhinvali.

On June 3, the Georgian side started to reconstruct railway lines connecting the village of Nikozi with Tskhinvali in conformity with agreements reached earlier. The distance between Nikozi and Tskhinvali is 6 kilometers. These railway lines were destroyed during the armed conflict in 1991-1992.

Source: ITAR-TASS News Agency