The commission, comprised of representatives of the conflicting sides, as well as Russian and OSCE officials, had to postpone the meeting in the South Ossetian capital, Tskhinvali, after the Georgians refused to attend over the host side's denial of an entry visa for the controversial commander of their peacekeeping battalion, Pata Bedianashvili.
"The Georgian side... has taken a course toward destroying the existing format," Boris Chochiyev told RIA Novosti by phone, adding that the controversy over Bedianashvili was being used by the Georgians to shift the blame.
He said the commander has no moral right to head the peacekeeping force, as "he has been directly involved in military operations against South Ossetia and was behind the shelling of [the capital] Tskhinvali on September 20 of last year."
The JCC session has been postponed until September 26 and the venue shifted to Vladikavkaz, the capital of the Russian republic of North Ossetia.
South Ossetia declared its independence from Georgia following the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. The Georgian leadership is seeking to bring the self-proclaimed republic back under its control.
