NY Times: S.Ossetia Tries to Disarm Citizens
Civil Georgia, Tbilisi / 15 Aug.'09 / 15:32

Authorities in breakaway South Ossetia have called on citizens to turn in their arms voluntarily and plan to offer from USD 300 to USD 400 in exchange for each Kalashnikov rifle, The New York Times reported on August 14.

In two week the breakaway region’s law enforcement agencies have collected or confiscated 100 machine guns - among them 15 U.S.-made M-4 carbines, “presumably lost by Georgian soldiers” in the August war, according to this report.

Vitaly Gassiev, breakaway region’s first deputy interior minister told The New York Times that Tskhinvali was using the lessons Russia had learned in the North Caucasus, where wars left a residue of crime, with “guns in hands and lots of uncontrolled elements.”

“I think the project will work without question… There is a guarantee of security now,” he said referring to the Russian military presence in the region.

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