Armenian president cancels visit to Georgia due to statement

A senior Georgian foreign ministry official on Friday confirmed that the scheduled visit by Armenian president has been canceled, but he had no information as to the cause of the cancellation. Deputy Georgian Foreign Minister Davit Jalaghania quoted some Armenian media reports as saying that Armenian President Serzh Sargsyan had canceled his visit which was scheduled for Nov. 1 after having heard Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili commenting on the treatment of the landslide in the border area between Armenia and Georgia. The Georgian president said it would only take Georgia several hours to deal with the landslide disaster whereas it took Armenia two days. Armenian media said the Armenian president had been offended by the statement. Landslides occurred earlier last month at the Armenian-Georgian border, burying some Georgian motor vehicles. At the end of last month, landslides occurred again in the border area, interrupting cross-border transportation.