Sergey Shamba, the foreign minister of breakaway Abkhazia, reiterated that Sokhumi would not resume talks with Tbilisi as long as Georgian troops remained in upper Kodori Gorge, Abkhaz news agency Apsnipress reported on March 14.

He also said another precondition for the resumption of talks was to clarify the whereabouts and fate of Davit Sigua, an ethnic Georgian who worked for the local Abkhaz administration in the Gali district.

Sigua has been missing since February 2007. The Abkhaz side claims that Sigua was kidnapped by Georgian law enforcers in retaliation for his cooperation with the Abkhaz authorities. Tbilisi has consistently denied any involvement in the disappearance.

“Without resolving these two issues - Kodori Gorge and the whereabouts of David Sigua - there will be no talks with Georgia,” Apsnipress quoted Shamba as saying.