Armenian leader favours reopening of railway via Georgia’s Abkhazia

Mediamax news agency
12 Mar 04

YEREVAN

Armenian President Robert Kocharyan spoke in favour of making
“strenuous efforts” to resume railway communications via Abkhazia.

Speaking at a briefing in Yerevan today, Robert Kocharyan said that a
resumption of railway communications via this route was “of benefit to
everyone – Georgia, Abkhazia, Armenia and Russia”, Mediamax news
agency reports.

The Armenian president said that in order to tackle this issue, one
should display the will and overcome the peculiar “custom, when any
attempt to upset the existing status quo threatens to cause fresh
internal problems”. At the same time, Kocharyan said that Armenia
understands Georgia’s position on this issue.

President Mikheil Saakashvili said that the resumption of the railway
communications via the Abkhaz section should take place in parallel
with the return of Georgian refugees to Abkhazia, particularly to Gali
District. The Georgian leader said that official Tbilisi was ready for
“more decisive steps to find a peaceful solution to this conflict and
to the problem of resuming regional transport communications”.