Georgia signs ceasefire, U.S. calls Russia to withdraw

Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili had signed the French-brokered deal on Friday during the visit of U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice. Â

The ceasefire would require Russia to withdraw its combat forces from Georgia but allows Russian peacekeepers to remain in the breakaway region of South Ossetia and conduct limited patrols outside the region.

 

Despite the accord, thrashed out by French President Nicolas Sarkozy earlier this week, Russian armored vehicles and tanks remained deep inside Georgian territory, some even pressing further towards the capital.

 

The six-point arrangement had been negotiated by Sarkozy, but a dispute soon followed over one of its provisions, which the Russians had interpreted as allowing them to maintain a military presence on Georgian territory outside the two disputed enclaves, South Ossetia and Abkhazia.

 

Rice brought with her a letter from Sarkozy clarifying that this provision would not apply to populated areas or the main east-west highway that is the country’s lifeline, said Giga Bokeria, Georgia’s deputy foreign minister.

 

That would mean, Rice argued, that the Russians would have to withdraw from Gori, a strategically important city 40 miles west of Tbilisi.

 

Rice, whose visit to Tbilisi was seen as a show of support for Saakashvili's government, criticized the Russians for not honoring their promises to halt military operations in Georgia.

 

Scores of Russian armored vehicles were concentrated at a base outside Gori, a strategically key town half-way between Tbilisi and the breakaway Georgian province of South Ossetia at the centre of the conflict.

 

"RUSSIANS DEEP IN GEORGIAN TERRITORY" 

Fighting erupted on Aug. 8 in the volatile South Caucasus region when Georgian forces launched an attack on Tskhinvali, the capital of the breakaway Georgian republic of South Ossetia.

 

During the subsequent counter operation to expel Georgian troops from the de facto independent republic and to reinforce Russian peacekeepers, Moscow sent some 10,000 troops and several hundred armored vehicles into the area.

 

Georgia claimed Russian troops remained deep in Georgian territory on Saturday and continued to maneuver around the flashpoint city of Gori.

 

Interior Ministry spokesman Shota Utiashvili told AFP that Russian armored personnel carriers and troops remained in their overnight positions near the village of Igoeti, about 40 kilometers (25 miles) from Tbilisi.

 

He also said Russian forces had brought a column of about 1,000 people -- possibly South Ossetian irregulars -- to the town of Akhalgori northeast of Gori. "The Russians are taking them there to loot," he said.

 

U.S. President George W. Bush meanwhile complained of Moscow’s "bullying" and called on Russia to honour its pledge to withdraw its troops.

 

"Bullying and intimidation are not acceptable ways to conduct foreign policy in the 21st century," he said, adding that Russia had damaged its credibility with the West by its offensive against Georgia.

 

"Moscow must honor its commitment to withdraw its invading forces from all Georgian territory," Bush said outside the Oval Office.

 

 

MEDVEDEV'S COMMITMENT

Russia strongly supports South Ossetia and the second breakaway region of Abkhazia and has given Russian passports to most people in the territories.

 

Medvedev told Sarkozy in phone talks that his country will sign the ceasefire accord and scrupulously respect all agreements, including a troop withdrawal, the office of the French president said.

 

Rice said that the United States favored the deployment of a "neutral" international peacekeeping force in Georgia.

 

As tensions flared between Moscow and Washington, Medvedev also clashed over the crisis with German Chancellor Angela Merkel during talks at the Black Sea resort of Sochi.

 

While he renewed his support for South Ossetia and Abkhazia, she slammed the Russians for their "disproportionate" use of force and said the territorial integrity of Georgia must be a "basic point" in any plan for restoring peace in the Caucasus.

 

Medvedev said the separatist regions could not live under Georgian control again.

 

The latest estimate by the UN High Commissioner for Refugees put the number of displaced people in the conflict region at more than 118,000.