ABKHAZIA: U.N. MISSION OBJECTS TO LOCAL POLLS








TBILISI, MARCH 10, 2001. /from RIA Novosti's Alexander Imedashvili/ - Abkhaz local elections appointed for today are unlawful and utterly unacceptable, the UN observation mission in Georgia points out in a statement as a majority of refugees who fled the republic in an armed conflict cannot go to the polls.


	Several UN Security Council resolutions emphasised the right of refugees and displaced persons to return home on dignified terms and have safety guarantees from the international law, as stipulated by a quadripartite agreement of April 4, 1994, says the statement.


	The mission appealed to Abkhazia to withstand from moves which threaten to inhibit peaceful and reasonable conflict settlement.


	A legitimate election will be impossible in Abkhazia before refugees get back home, Veselin Kostov, political adviser to the mission, said to Novosti. The UN mission will not monitor Abkhaz polls, he added.