On 4 March Prime Minister Zurab Noghaideli held a briefing at the State Chancellery where he commented on the elections in Abkhazia and plans for transferring the remains of independent Georgia's first president, Zviad Gamsakhurdia, back to Tbilisi.
Noghaideli said that the elections under way in Abkhazia could not be considered legitimate since "80 per cent" of the population of the region, which had been part of Georgia for centuries, were been expelled from Abkhazia in an ethnic cleansing campaign during the war of 1992-93.
"The elections there are not only illegal, but also immoral. Accordingly, the so-called elections cannot have any moral or legal outcome. When we speak of the people who fled from Abkhazia, we do not mean only Georgians. People of various other ethnic origins were also expelled from Abkhazia. In spite of this we are offering to hold peace talks with Abkhazia's de facto leadership without any preconditions and without delay. This should ultimately form the basis for the comprehensive peaceful settlement of the conflict. We are offering Abkhazia broad autonomy," Noghaideli said.
Under Decree No643 of the President of Georgia of October 26, 2006, the prime minister was appointed chair of the governmental commission working on the reburial of Zviad Gamsakhurdia in Georgia. He told the briefing that many details had to be worked out before the commission could take any final decision on the reburial.
Press Office of the Government of Georgia