The UN Security Council decided on Thursday to extend the mandate of the UN Observer Mission in Georgia (UNOMIG) for another four months.
In a unanimously adopted resolution, the 15-member body agreed to "extend the mandate of the United Nations mission for a new period terminating on Feb. 15, 2009."
Established by the council in August 1993, UNOMIG was tasked to verify compliance with the cease-fire agreement between the government of Georgia and the breakaway Abkhaz authorities in Georgia.
UNOMIG's mandate was expanded following the signing by the parties of the 1994 Agreement on a Cease-fire and Separation of Forces. It has no jurisdiction in the nearby South Ossetia region.
The mission currently has 134 military observers, 17 police, 85international civilian personnel and about 175 local civilian staff.
In a recent report to the Security Council, UN Chief Ban Ki-moon said that dramatic changes due to the Russian-Georgian conflict in Georgia's breakaway South Ossetia have cast a veil of uncertainty over the future function of the 14-year-old UN mission.
"While the role of UNOMIG may need to be adjusted, I do believe that the United Nations should continue to place the experience of UNOMIG at the disposal of the two sides and the international community in order to respond in the best possible way to the demands of conflict prevention and conflict resolution," he said.
Ban recommended to the council that it extend the mandate of the mission "on a technical basis for a period of four months, until Feb. 15, 2009."
The French Foreign Ministry said Wednesday that an international conference to pool together opinions on the Georgian issue is scheduled for Oct. 15 in Geneva.
Source: Xinhua
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