Georgia's latest weapon against rebel separatists: disco
Authorities in ex-Soviet Georgia have turned to a new weapon in their
struggle against rebel separatists in the breakaway region of South
Ossetia: disco.
Officials have announced that disco legends Boney M, known for
such 1970s hits as "Rasputin" and "Daddy Cool," will play a concert
Saturday in the tiny, Georgian-controlled village of Tamarasheni on the
edge of the rebel capital, Tskhinvali.
The concert is part of a wider effort to convince South Ossetian rebels that they would lead more peaceful, prosperous -- and possibly funky -- lives under Georgian control.
"Our message is that we are against war, extremism and violence. We
want to resolve all problems peacefully, and peaceful life resumes
where people sing songs," said Dmitry Sanakoyev, the head of a rival
pro-Georgian administration in South Ossetia.
The concert will be held in a new concert hall erected in
Tamarasheni this year as part of reconstruction efforts in
Georgian-controlled areas of South Ossetia.
A patchwork of ethnic Georgian and Ossetian settlements spread out
in the mountains of northern Georgia, South Ossetia broke away from
central control amid heavy fighting after the Soviet Union's 1991
collapse.
Sanakoyev's administration controls mostly ethnic Georgian
villages that account for about a third of South Ossetia's estimated
60,000 people.
Violence continues to plague the area and sniper fire is common
after nightfall. This summer saw some of the heaviest fighting in the
region in years, with both sides accusing each other of launching
mortar and grenade attacks. - from RawStory
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