Georgia started an operation in the remote Kodori Gorge in late July to find and disarm a rebellious militia unit led by Emzar Kvitsiani, a former Georgian presidential envoy to Abkhazia.
On July 27, Georgian authorities said Abkhazia's new "legitimate government" would be based in the Kodori Gorge, the only Tbilisi-controlled area in the separatist region's north, where local militia forces organized a rebellion against Georgian rule late last month.
Sergei Bagapsh said it was a military operation under the guise of a police operation, whose purpose was to establish the government in exile in the gorge. He also said the operation had frustrated efforts being made by the sides since 1993 to resolve the conflict.
"Now we should enter a new level of relations. Both sides should resolve this problem," he said.
Bagapsh said Abkhazia was ready to sign peace agreements with Georgia, but that the latter was not interested in a peaceful resolution of the conflict.
The Kodori Gorge in northern Georgia marks the de facto border between Abkhazian and Georgian-controlled territory. The lower part of the gorge is controlled by Abkhazia, and the upper part by Georgia.
The bloody conflict between Georgia and Abkhazia erupted in the early 1990s following the collapse of the Soviet Union. It was suspended by a ceasefire agreement that introduced peacekeeping troops from the former Soviet republics, including Russia, into the separatist area.
