Observers note that the shooting stopped after the establishment of additional peacekeepers' posts on the hills around Tskhinvali. Mr Baramidze says "absolute calm" reigns in the conflict zone now. He thinks the security of Georgian villages in the conflict zone is assured. "In this new situation, there will be no possibility of waging hostilities, since all posts in the region are manned by the tripartite peacekeeping forces," he said.
Indeed, the situation in the region is returning to normal now that Georgian troops are pulling out. The first night after the withdrawal passed without shooting and shelling. RIA Novosti learnt in the joint staff of the Joint Peacekeeping Force that this became possible "after the deployment of Russian peacekeepers at the commanding heights around Tskhinvali and the establishment of additional five peacekeeping posts at the crossroads leading to Georgian and Ossetian villages."
Several reasons for the Georgian decision to withdraw are possible.
The first reason could be the failed attempt to storm the Ossetian village of Tliakan. According to the joint staff, "Georgian troops occupied part of the village and seized four armoured vehicles" but several hours later the Ossetians regained control of the area and vehicles.
The second reason could be the decision of the US, Saakashvili's main partner in the West, to call for the conflict to be solved by political means. Sergei Markedonov, an expert at the Institute of Political and Military Analysis, believes the West sees Mikhail Saakashvili as a politician of a new type who can solve internal problems without spilling blood. The West, including the US, will hardly give Saakashvili a carte blanche for using military force to settle internal conflicts, says Markedonov.
The third reason could be Russia's position. Russia has been a traditionally strong player in the region who is directly involved in the settlement of the conflict. Russia's Foreign Ministry issued an unusually harsh statement the other day blaming Georgia for preventing the fulfilment of the August 18 decisions of the Joint Control Commission "on the re-deployment and establishment of additional peacekeeping posts in order to disengage the sides and ensure a ceasefire." The Russian Foreign Ministry recalls that "these decisions, like previous documents, were signed by Georgian representatives." However, "Georgia has again provoked fighting, this time on a larger scale and more sanguinary, which has undermined the fulfilment of also these latest decisions," says the statement.
As expected, South Ossetia welcomed the withdrawal of Georgian troops. Boris Chochiyev, South Ossetia's minister at large and co-chairman of the Joint Control Commission on the settlement of the Georgia-Ossetia conflict, praised the decision as "correct and preventing the loss of more life." The minister noted that the withdrawal of Georgian troops from South Ossetia "provides a good opportunity to resume peaceful talks on strengthening stability" in the region.
The peacekeeping forces in the region plan to conduct a number of operations designed to ease tension in the conflict zone. According to Svyatoslav Nabzdorov, commander of the Joint Peacekeeping Forces in the zone, the Russian peacekeepers plan to disarm volunteers in the Ossetian and Georgian villages of South Ossetia. The commander stressed: "There must be no armed people apart from peacekeepers and the staff of law enforcement structures in the region."
The calm in South Ossetia allows the sides to resume negotiations within the framework of the Joint Control Commission. The immediate task is to search for mutually acceptable compromises and political ways to settle the Georgia-Ossetia conflict.
