Abkhazians Kidnap Three Georgians
Tbilisi.19.05.05. Media News. Three residents of the village Khurchi, Spartak Jgeria, Zviad Pharcvania and Arkadi Tabagua, have been kidnapped by Abkhazians from the village Nabakevi in the Gali District. The kidnappers have demanded a ransom of $200,000 from the families of the hostages.
At the traditional four-sided meeting in Chuburkhingi the governor of Samegrelo Zemo Svaneti, Kakha Ardia, demanded that the Abkhazian side release the hostages.
Georgian law enforcers have linked this kidnapping to the scrap-iron trade. As the Abkhazians stated at the Chuburkhingi meeting, the incident is connected with a disagreement that arose between Georgians and Abkhazians in relation to black market scrap-iron trade.
Zviad Pharcvania is a member of a commando battalion, and it is said that he was only accidentally taken among the hostages. He served in the Georgian peacekeeping contingent in Kosovo, from where he returned just one week ago.