Diplomatic Service
On September 28, 2004, Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili appointed Alasania as chairman of the Tbilisi-based Abkhazian government-in-exile. On February 15, 2005, Saakashvili also made him his aide in the Georgian-Abkhaz peace talks, a move that was initially opposed by the Abkhaz secessionist leadership, but later accepted under pressure from the U.N. mission (UNOMIG). During this tenure, Alasania succeeding in establishing good ties with several Abkhaz politicians and was instrumental in resuming the Georgian-Abkhaz Coordination Council, a tool for direct talks between the two sides, in March 2006. That month, however, he was appointed as Georgia’s Permanent Representative to the U.N., a decision which triggered some controversy, with critics saying that sidelining Alasania from the Georgian-Abkhaz negotiations would hinder the positive momentum recently observed in the process.
Alasania continued working on Abkhazian issues, and with through his efforts, the UN General Assembly discussed the issue of displaced persons due to the conflicts in Georgia and passed resolution GA/10708 which recognized the right of return by refugees and internally displaced persons to Abkhazia as well as restitution of property.
Alasania retained his position of the President’s special envoy for the Abkhazia issue and in this capacity, paid a surprise and largely unpublicized visit to Sukhumi on May 12, 2008, where he presented a Georgia-Abhkaz peace plan. The move came amid the stalemate in the Georgian-Abkhaz talks and increasing Russian-Georgian tensions over Abkhazia.
Due to his appointment as Georgia’s Representative to the UN during the 2008 conflict between Georgia and Russia over South Ossetia, Alasania was the Georgian government’s key negotiator with the UN Security Council and voiced the need for quick and decisive UN and international pressure on Russia to end the conflict.
Alasania resigned his position as Georgia's Permanent Representative at the U.N. on December 4, 2008, citing concerns over the Georgian government’s handling of the 2008 war with Russia.
Read more about this topic: Irakli Alasania
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