Georgia.

• Position: Includes related article on the attack on Georgian President Edouard Shevardnadze - Conflict in Abkhazia, Georgia

The Security Council on 30 January, in reiterating its "deep concern that, as yet, no significant progress has been made on key issues in the settlement of the conflict in Abkhazia, Georgia", extended the United Nations Observer Mission in Georgia (UNOMIG) until 31 July. That decision was subject to a review in the event of any changes in the mandate of the peacekeeping force of the Commonwealth of Independent States in the region.

By unanimously adopting resolution 1150 (1998), the Council also called on the parties - the Georgian Government and the Abkhaz leaders - to work constructively with the Secretary-General, his Special Representative, Liviu Bota, and the Russian Federation, in its role as facilitator, to achieve a comprehensive settlement. It called on them to intensify the search for a peaceful solution by further expanding their contacts, and emphasized that the "primary responsibility for reinvigorating the peace process rests upon the parties themselves".

The Council noted with satisfaction that much groundwork had been laid towards achieving substantive progress in the peace process, and commended the parties for their constructive approach at the Geneva meeting in November 1997. It also welcomed the establishment and the first meetings of the Coordinating Council and working groups, under the chairmanship of the Special Representative, and stressed the importance of the effective working of those bodies to help progress towards a settlement.

The Coordinating Council had been established to implement the provisions of the Concluding Statement adopted at the Geneva meeting which, among other things, welcomed the Secretary-General's proposal to strengthen the United Nations involvement in the...