On July 27, Georgian authorities said Abkhazia's new "legitimate government" would be based in the Kodori Gorge, the only Tbilisi-controlled area in the separatist region's north, where local militia forces organized a rebellion against Georgian rule late last month.
"A military operation in the gorge close to the Russian border affects our security," Grigory Karasin, currently visiting Abkhazia, told the Rossiiskaya Gazeta government daily.
"The idea of placing a so-called Abkhazian government in exile in the Kodori Gorge seems very dangerous," Karasin said, warning that "the inclination to resolve conflicts by force may become dangerously contagious."
The Abkhazian leader, Sergei Bagapsh, said he considered the Georgian authorities' decision to install a new Abkhazian government in Kodori to be a "provocation."
"We regard the decision to base the so-called Abkhazian government in exile in the Kodori Gorge as a provocation from the Georgian side," he said, adding that Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili's decision made a conflict between Georgia and Abkhazia much more likely.
Bagapsh also said Abkhazia retained the right to use force if Georgia tried to install such a government in the gorge.
The Kodori Gorge in northern Georgia marks the de facto border between the Abkhazia and Georgian-controlled territory. The lower part of the gorge is controlled by Abkhazia, and the upper part by Georgia.
The bloody conflict between Georgia and Abkhazia erupted in the early 1990s following the collapse of the Soviet Union. It was suspended by a ceasefire agreement that introduced peacekeeping troops of the former Soviet republics, including Russia, in the separatist area.
