Русская версияRussian forces battled pro-Western Georgian troops in South Ossetia
on Friday in an escalating conflict that has killed hundreds and
threatens to engulf the entire region.
Both sides ignored pleas
from world leaders for calm as Moscow and Tbilisi blamed each other
for the fighting in South Ossetia which began after several days of
skirmishes.
Intense fighting reportedly raged for a second night in South
Ossetia and Georgia's interior ministry reported air attacks on
three military bases and key facilities for shipping oil to the
West.
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Russian NTV channel films Ossetian civilians fleeing the South
Ossetian capital under the heavy fire of Georgian army
Interior Ministry spokesman Shota Utiashvili said the Vaziani
military base on the outskirts of the Georgian capital was bombed
by warplanes early Saturday and that bombs fell in the area of the
Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline. He also said two other Georgian
military bases were hit and that warplanes bombed the Black Sea
port city of Poti, which has a sizable oil shipment facility.
Uiashvili said there are apparently significant casualties and
damage, but that further details would not be known until the
morning.
State of emergency for Georgia
A top Georgian official said President Mikheil Saakshivili would
declare a state of emergency within a few hours, a move that would
give him a free hand to manage the conflict.
The Secretary of Georgia's National Security Council Alexander
Lomaia said that Saakashvili and other officials had been evacuated
from the government buildings in Tbilisi to a secure location.
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A fighter jet drops munitions near the Georgian town of Gori, Aug.
8.
"Over the past two hours, Russian aviation has carried out flights
on economic and civilian infrastructure targets. There has been an
attack on the port of Poti and on a railway junction and aerodrome
in Senaki," Lomaia said.
Georgia Builds up troops in Abkhazia
Meanwhile, Georgia bolstered its troops on the border to separatist
Abkhazia, another breakaway Georgian province, according to a top
Abkhaz official.
The Interfax news agency quoted the official on Saturday as having
seen that Georgia had "significantly increased its military
presence on the border with Abkhazia over the past 24 hours.
"We are expecting provocations from the Georgian side," he said.
Georgia has vowed to retake both provinces under its control.
Sporadic shootings are frequent along the unofficial border between
Abkhazia and the rest of Georgia but the region, located on the
Black Sea, has so far not been affected by the Georgian offensive
in South Ossetia.
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Map of Georgian and its enclaves South Ossetia and Abkhazia
UN Security Council postpones bid for ceasefire
The United Nations Security Council put off until Saturday efforts
to agree on a call for an immediate ceasefire in the worsening
conflict its president said Friday.
"Some members need more time," Belgium's UN envoy Jan Grauls, who
chairs the council this month, told reporters. "Negotiations will
be resumed tomorrow."
The meeting was the second emergency session to broker a ceasefire
within 12 hours.
International diplomacy required
Envoys from the US, EU and Organization of Security and Cooperation
in Europe (OSCE) were being deployed to Georgia to seek an end to
the fighting.
"The United States calls for an immediate ceasefire to the armed
conflict in Georgia's region of South Ossetia," US Secretary of
State Condoleezza Rice said in a statement.
"We call on Russia to cease attacks on Georgia by aircraft and
missiles, respect Georgia's territorial integrity, and withdraw its
ground combat forces from Georgian soil," she said.
The United States was working actively with its European allies to
launch international mediation to end the crisis, Rice said, adding
that senior US officials have spoken with the parties in the
conflict.
"We underscore the international community's support for Georgia's
sovereignty and territorial integrity within its internationally
recognized borders, as articulated in numerous UN Security Council
resolutions," she said.
The EU presidency said it was in contact with all protagonists and
working to secure a ceasefire "so as to avoid an extension of the
conflict."
The EU "calls on all parties to cease hostilities and to resume,
without delay, so as to secure a political solution to the crisis,
which respects Georgia's sovereignty and territorial integrity," it
said.
(Deutsche Welle)
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