Term for U.N. mission in Georgia extended

UNITED NATIONS, Oct. 10 (UPI) -- The U.N. Security Council has extended for another four months the U.N. Observer Mission in Georgia overseeing the cease-fire between Georgia and Abkhazia.

U.S. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon asked for the extension Thursday, saying "dramatic changes" from the Georgia-Russia conflict in South Ossetia created uncertainty, the United Nations said in a news release.

The 14-year-old Abkhazia observer mission is responsible for security and restricted weapons zones, and the Kodori Valley, Ban said. It has no jurisdiction in South Ossetia, where Georgia fought separatists and their Russian allies.

Ban said it was unlikely the Russian-led peacekeeping force in the Abkhazia region would have any role in the separation of forces between the two sides.

"Under these circumstances, it is too early at this stage to define the role that (the mission) may play in the future," he told the Security Council. "But as long as international involvement in the Georgian-Abkhaz conflict is seen as helping to prevent future conflict, (the mission) may be called upon to make a contribution."