(Republic of) Georgia moves to appease S Ossetia

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Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili has unveiled a peace plan granting more autonomy to the separatist republic of South Ossetia.

"Our plan calls for a constitutional guarantee of this autonomy, a status that includes the right for a local government elected freely and directly that would include an executive branch and a parliament," Saakashvili said in a speech before parliamentarians of the Council of Europe in Strasbourg on Wednesday.

However, he did not raise the issue of Abkhazia, another separatist republic, saying that "would be of no use".

"They walked out of the negotiations and we no longer have an interlocutor to pursue negotiations," he said, adding that the situation was unacceptable.

al Jazeera