New UN peace-keeping operation launched to verify cease-fire pact.

A new international peace-keeping operation, the first on the territory of the former Soviet Union, was established by the Security Council on 2 4 August for an initial period of six months. In unanimously adopting resolution 858 (1993), the Council called on all parties to cooperate fully with the UN Observer Mission in Georgia (UNOMIG), to ensure the safety of all UN and "all other peace-keeping and humanitarian personnel within Georgia".

Some 88 military observers are to verify compliance with the 27 July cease-fire Agreement between Georgia and the separatist forces in the Black Sea region of Abkhazia. They are also to investigate reports of cease-fire violations and "attempt to resolve such incidents with the parties involved". Acting on the Secretary-General's recommendation (S/26250), the Council welcomed the proposed deployment of mixed interim monitoring groups of Georgian/Abkhaz/Russian units designed to consolidate the cease-fire, and asked the Secretary-General to facilitate cooperation between these units and the UN observers.

The Secretary-General Was also asked to "pursue energetically", through his Special Envoy Edouard Brunner, "efforts to facilitate the peace process and negotiations, starting as soon as possible, towards the achievement of a comprehensive political settlement".

The Council expressed its continuing support for the Secretary-General's ongoing cooperation with the Chairman-in-Office of the Conference on Security and Cooperation in Europe (CSCE) in efforts to "bring peace to Georgia and elsewhere in the region".

Brigadier-General John Hvidiegaard of Denmark on 27 August was appointed as Chief Military Observer of UNOMIG. The military observers are to come from Austria, Bangladesh, the Czech Republic, Denmark, Germany, Greece, Poland, Sierra Leone, Sweden and Switzerland.

A delicate stage

On 6 August, in unanimously adopting resolution 854 (1993), the Council had approved the dispatch of an advance team of up to 10 UN military observers to Abkhazia for three months.

Such early deployment, the Secretary-General said (S/26254) on 4 August, could serve as a "significant confidence-building measure by demonstrating the support of the international community for tile cease-fire during its initial delicate stage".

While the cease-fire and deployment of UN and Russian Observers were "important steps in the right direction", he stated (S/26264) on 6 August, a political process must also begin to "tackle the root Of the conflict", which was political in nature.

On 9 July, the Council in resolution 849 (1993) asked that the Secretary-General's Special Envoy be sent to Abkhazia to "assist in reaching agreement on the implemention of the cease-fire", and that plans for the dispatch of 50 military observers to Georgia be launched.

The Council acted in response to reports of increased fighting around Sukhumi, the capital of Abkhazia. The cease-fire agreement between the parties, with the Russian Federation as facilitator, was signed on 27 July in Sochi. A UN planning team visited the conflict area from 19 to 27 July, followed by a visit of the Special Envoy from 27 to 31 July.

On 16 September, the 27 July Cease-fire Agreement was broken When the Abkhaz forces began a new offensive. The Secretary-General stated that the renewed outbreak of fighting in Abkhazia jeopardized the regional peace process under UN auspices. All parties, in particular the Abkhaz side, should stop the fighting immediately and withdraw to the original cease-fire lines, he stressed.

The Council on 17 September demanded an immediate end to the hostilities, warning the Abkhaz leadership that failure to take such action could entail the risk of "serious consequences". In a statement (S/26463) by its President, Adolfo Raul Taylhardat of Venezuela, the Council strongly condemned the cease-fire violation.

The Secretary-General on 24 September said he was deeply saddened by the suffering inflicted on innocent civilians in Abkhazia.

The Council's request for immediate restoration of the cease-fire should be "heeded without delay" to avoid further destruction and loss of innocent life. That would greatly enhance the prospects for negotiations on a comprehensive political settlement, he said, due to commence under the auspices of his Special Envoy.