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BAKU: Azerbaijan, Georgia in talks over blocking of railway traffic

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  • BAKU: Azerbaijan, Georgia in talks over blocking of railway traffic

    Azerbaijan, Georgia in talks over blocking of railway traffic

    Azad Azarbaycan TV, Baku
    29 Nov 04

    [Presenter] The Azerbaijani ambassador to Georgia, Ramiz Hasanov, has
    been invited to the Georgian Foreign Ministry over the detention of
    over 900 railway wagons at the Boyuk Kasik station on the
    Azerbaijani-Georgian border. While Georgian Prime Minister Zurab
    Zhvania has said that the situation will not affect bilateral
    relations, the Georgian Foreign Ministry has expressed its concern. In
    the meantime, the release of the wagons is still in question.

    [Correspondent over video of freight trains] The number of wagons
    being kept on the Azerbaijani-Georgian border has already reached 975,
    the deputy head of the freight processing department under the
    Azerbaijani State Railway Department, Teymur Mammadov, has told
    ATV. Of these, 450 wagons are loaded with diesel fuel, 396 with grain,
    69 with flour, 50 with fuel oil and 12 with LPG [liquefied petroleum
    gas].

    The issue was discussed during meetings of the visiting representative
    from the Georgian Railways Department, (?Ramaz Giorgadze), at the
    State Customs Committee. Tomorrow, Azerbaijani customs officials will
    leave for Georgia for negotiations, the Azerbaijani ambassador to
    Georgia, Ramiz Hasanov, said.

    The Azerbaijani diplomat was invited to the Georgian Foreign Ministry
    today to discuss the current crisis. Answering journalists' questions
    after the meeting, the ambassador said that Baku insists on the
    implementation of the agreement signed during Azerbaijani President
    Ilham Aliyev's visit to Tbilisi. The agreement stipulates that it is
    unacceptable to transport by railway cargo that does not meet
    Azerbaijan's and Georgia's interests.

    [Hasanov, over phone] Under that agreement, we have the right to stop
    such cargo on suspicion. And this cargo has caused
    suspicion. Therefore, we have detained it to conduct an inquiry. Of
    course, cargo cannot go through our territory and through the
    territory of Georgia to Armenia. We suspect that this cargo might be
    bound for Armenia, so we have stopped it.

    [Passage omitted: Georgian Prime Minister Zurab Zhvania says the
    problem should not be blown out of proportion and that some of the
    cargo has already crossed the border]
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