OSCE CO-CHAIRS CONDEMN SHOOTING IN GORADIZ
Panorama.am
16:50 06/03/2009
The Minsk Group Co-Chairs condemn the shooting incident near Goradiz
along the Line of Contact on February 26, when shots were fired during
a monitoring mission carried out by the Personal Representative of
the Chair-in-Office Andrzej Kasprzyk, reports the OSCE press service.
The co-chairs call on the parties to adhere scrupulously to the
ceasefire and express their deep regret that over 30 people have died
and 50 have been wounded in 2008 as a result of ceasefire violations.
They condemn in the strongest terms the violation of the ceasefire
during the course of an OSCE monitoring mission, particularly given
that local commanders provided written security guarantees to the
OSCE monitoring mission just prior to their monitoring activities on
February 26.
They call for an explanation from the parties for how such an egregious
violation of the ceasefire could have taken place.
The co-chairs regret that not all of the parties agreed to the
recommendation made by the Minsk Group Co-Chairs at the Ministerial
Council meeting in Helsinki in December 2008 to pull snipers back
from the Line of Contact.
They express full support and admiration for the work of Personal
Representative Kasprzyk and his team, and underline the importance
of monitoring the Line of Contact as a confidence building measure
between the sides.