The News in Brief

Lavrov: international community should urge Georgia to sign peace pact

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said the international community should urge Georgia to sign a non-use of force agreement with breakaway Abkhazia and South Ossetia.

“I think that we, with our international partners should persist in [pushing for] the signing of such documents,” Lavrov stated in an interview with a Russian television channel.

According to Lavrov, this would be the first step towards normalization of relations between Tbilisi and the de facto secessionist capitals of Sokhumi and Tskhinvali.

Georgia has refused to sign non-use of force agreements, objecting to language which would imply a treaty between sovereign states. (Prime News)



OSCE chairman-in-office visits Georgia

Ilkka Kanerva, current OSCE chairman-in-office and the minister of foreign affairs of Finland, arrives in Georgia today for a two-day working visit.

Kanerva is scheduled to meet with President Mikheil Saakashvili, Speaker of Parliament Nino Burjanadze, Foreign Minister Davit Bakradze, State Minister for Reintegration Issues Temur Iakobashvili and Human Rights Ombudsman Sozar Subari, among others. (Prime News)



Prime minister visits London

Prime Minister Lado Gurgenidze left for London yesterday for a two-day working visit, accompanied by Finance Minister Nika Gilauri and deputy Finance Minister Dimitri Gvindadze. (Prime News)



Early voting underway in Abkhazia

Early voting for the Russian presidential election has begun in portions of secessionist Abkhazia, where many residents hold Russian passports, according to the news agency RIA Novosti.

A source with the de facto election commission of the self-proclaimed republic said turnout is high in the early voting, which is to finish on February 29.

The Russian election is scheduled for March 2. (Black Sea Press)



Justice minister visits hospitalized baby

Yesterday Justice Minister Nika Gvaramia visited a hospitalized newborn which was born to a woman inmate.

The minister brought along basic necessities and a stroller for the baby, which was born with weight problems and an intracerebral hematoma.

“Because of a lack of appropriate conditions for newborn babies, we decided to hospitalize little Giorgi,” Gvaramia said.

The minister spoke with Magda Mamrikashvili, the nineteen-year-old mother of the child. Mamrikashvili is serving a seven year sentence.

Gvaramia also gave baby carriages to all children living in prisons with their mothers. (Prime News)



New GPB board to be nominated by tomorrow

Candidates for the new board of trustees for the Georgian Public Broadcaster are expected to be nominated by parliament either today or tomorrow, according to Speaker of Parliament Nino Burjanadze.

Burjanadze said that consultations with the opposition will continue after the candidates are officially nominated, so that both sides can agree on the makeup of the board and on the eventual director general of the GPB.

27 candidates will be nominated for the board, and parliament will approve nine of them. (Prime News)



New ambassadors to Russia, Bulgaria and China

Three new candidacies for ambassadorships were submitted to parliament yesterday.

Eorsi Kitsmarishvili, a founder of Rustavi 2, is nominated as ambassador to Russia.

Zaza Begashvili, formerly the chair of the Tbilisi city council, is nominated as the ambassador to China. The current ambassador to China, Mikhail Ukleba, is expected to take up the post in Bulgaria.

A new MP, Yuri Gogelia, was also nominated, to fill the place of the late MP Alakhverd Umbatov. (Black Sea Press)