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Sunday Observer, Sri Lanka
Sarkozy negotiates Georgia issue
By Daily Mail Reporter
Sunday, 17 August 2008
Russia and EU president Nicolas Sarkozy have negotiated conditions for
a ceasefire in Georgia, agreeing on a plan that calls for both Russian
and Georgian troops to move back to their original positions.
And Georgian president Saakashvili says he accepts the cease-fire
plan.
After several hours of talks French president Sarkozy said the EU
could send peacekeepers to Georgia if all parties agreed to the plan.
'Could Europe be involved in a peacekeeping mission? Europe is
available to do that of course,' he said.The peace plan endorsed by
Russian president Dmitri Medvedev and Sarkozy calls for an
international discussion on the future status of Georgia's breakaway
provinces and ways to ensure their security. It demands Russia and
Georgia to immediately end all hostilities and allow free access to
the region for humanitarian assistance.
Medvedev said the residents of both breakaway provinces must be
allowed to decide whether they want to be part of Russia.
'Ossetians and Abkhaz must respond to that question taking their
history into account, including what happened in the past few days,'
Medvedev said.
Sarkozy is now heading to Tbilisi to talk over the plan with Georgian
president Saakashvili.
Earlier today Russian forces shelled the Georgian town of Gori,
despite a Kremlin promise to bring fighting to an end.
As president Medvedev ordered a halt to the invasion, his army fired
on the area in an escalation of the fighting that has raged for five
days.
Gori is a town of 70,000 people, lying 15 miles south of the disputed
region of South Ossetia.
Russian PM Vladimir Putin
The attack appeared to be aimed at the town hall but flats were
damaged.
A Dutch journalist was killed and another wounded after a
fragmentation shell exploded outside a press centre.
Witnesses said one shell fell on a hospital, while journalists
reported seeing dead and injured people lying in the streets.
>From the Georgian capital Tbilisi, British citizens were evacuated in
coaches to Armenia as Georgian troops took up positions to repulse a
feared Russian attack. Russian-backed rebels also launched a new
offensive in Abkhazia, a second separatist region of Georgia, in an
attempt to drive Georgian forces out of the only remaining area of the
territory still in their control.
Earlier Mr Medvedev said: 'I have decided to stop the operation to
force the Georgian authorities to peace.
The security of our peacekeepers and civilians has been restored.
'The aggressor has been punished and suffered very significant
losses. Its armed forces have been disorganised.'
His intervention prompted international relief amid hopes it would
calm world oil markets which have been shaken by the potential risk to
the major pipeline running through Georgian territory which supplies
many Western countries.
But there were clear warning signs that the conflict could continue as
Mr Medvedev said that Russian forces would still defend themselves and
crush any signs of Georgian resistance.
'If there are any emerging hotbeds of resistance or any aggressive
actions, you should take steps to destroy them,' he added.
The Georgian president responded by saying he would regard the
breakaway-regions Abkhazia and South Ossetia as occupied territories.
Mikhail Saakashvili says Georgia will officially designate Russian
peacekeepers in the provinces of Abkhazia and South Ossetia as
occupying forces.
His prime minister Lado Gurgenidze also said he wanted to see more
evidence of a Russian ceasefire and would remain 'prepared for
everything' until Moscow signed a formal peace deal.
Before the ceasefire order, today's new attacks - which came on the
fifth day of fighting since the conflict was triggered by Georgia's
attempt to seize control of South Ossetia - had raised fears that the
Georgian capital Tbilisi could come under threat.
On guard: Russian soldiers take cover as a tank convoy enters
Tskhinvali, capital of the Georgian breakaway enclave of South Ossetia
yesterday
Russia's deputy prime minister has warned that it will be 'decades'
before the South Ossetians might be ready to accept any Georgian
presence in their country and the Russian foreign minister Sergei
Lavrov today insisted that Georgia must sign a legally binding
document on the nonuse of force before any progress could be made.
He added that Moscow could not agree to any peace plan for South
Ossetia if it included Georgians in a future peacekeeping force
because they had attacked Russian colleagues during Tbilisi's push to
recapture the breakaway region.
'They can no longer remain. They brought shame upon themselves as
peacekeepers. They committed crimes,' said Mr Lavrov.
Earlier today, the crisis, which has claimed several thousand lives,
widened when Russian-backed rebels in Abkhazia launched artillery
strikes in a bid to drive Georgia forces out of the territory-
Abkhazia's self-styled foreign minister Sergei Shamba said his forces
were driving Georgian troops out of the Kodori Gorge - the last
remaining part of the territory held by Georgia.
He insisted that Russian soldiers were not involved despite Moscow's
deployment of more than 9,000 troops to the area earlier this week.
'The operation to liberate Kodori Gorge has started,' Mr Shamba
said. 'Our troops are making advances. We are hoping for success.'
That led to a defiant response from Mr Saakashvili, who told his
country to fight on. 'Georgia will never surrender,' he said.
'They should know Georgia will never surrender. I directly accuse
Russia of ethnic cleansing.'
The president added that his country had now effectively been cut in
two by the Russia's capture of the main eastwest highway close to the
key city of Gori.
Shortly after he spoke, Russian aircraft bombed Gori, injuring and
killing several civilians in the virtually deserted streets. A Dutch
TV cameraman was among those killed.
'The bombs hit in front of us and beside us,' a Reuters reporter
driving through Gori said.
'Several people were wounded and lying in the street. We got straight
out of there.' Georgian soldiers abandoned the town in disarray
yesterday.
The attack on Gori - coupled with Russia's capture of two strategic
towns, Senaki and Zugdidi, inside Georgia yesterday - intensified the
growing international unease.
Georgia borders the Black Sea between Turkey and Russia and was ruled
by Moscow for most of the two centuries preceding the 1991 break-up of
the Soviet Union.
Both South Ossetia and Abkhazia have run their own affairs without
international recognition since fighting to split from Georgia in the
early 1990s - and both have close ties with Moscow.
President Bush said today: 'Russia has invaded a sovereign
neighbouring state and threatens a democratic government elected by
its people.
Such an action is unacceptable in the 21st century.'
-Russia Times
Sarkozy negotiates Georgia issue
By Daily Mail Reporter
Sunday, 17 August 2008
Russia and EU president Nicolas Sarkozy have negotiated conditions for
a ceasefire in Georgia, agreeing on a plan that calls for both Russian
and Georgian troops to move back to their original positions.
And Georgian president Saakashvili says he accepts the cease-fire
plan.
After several hours of talks French president Sarkozy said the EU
could send peacekeepers to Georgia if all parties agreed to the plan.
'Could Europe be involved in a peacekeeping mission? Europe is
available to do that of course,' he said.The peace plan endorsed by
Russian president Dmitri Medvedev and Sarkozy calls for an
international discussion on the future status of Georgia's breakaway
provinces and ways to ensure their security. It demands Russia and
Georgia to immediately end all hostilities and allow free access to
the region for humanitarian assistance.
Medvedev said the residents of both breakaway provinces must be
allowed to decide whether they want to be part of Russia.
'Ossetians and Abkhaz must respond to that question taking their
history into account, including what happened in the past few days,'
Medvedev said.
Sarkozy is now heading to Tbilisi to talk over the plan with Georgian
president Saakashvili.
Earlier today Russian forces shelled the Georgian town of Gori,
despite a Kremlin promise to bring fighting to an end.
As president Medvedev ordered a halt to the invasion, his army fired
on the area in an escalation of the fighting that has raged for five
days.
Gori is a town of 70,000 people, lying 15 miles south of the disputed
region of South Ossetia.
Russian PM Vladimir Putin
The attack appeared to be aimed at the town hall but flats were
damaged.
A Dutch journalist was killed and another wounded after a
fragmentation shell exploded outside a press centre.
Witnesses said one shell fell on a hospital, while journalists
reported seeing dead and injured people lying in the streets.
>From the Georgian capital Tbilisi, British citizens were evacuated in
coaches to Armenia as Georgian troops took up positions to repulse a
feared Russian attack. Russian-backed rebels also launched a new
offensive in Abkhazia, a second separatist region of Georgia, in an
attempt to drive Georgian forces out of the only remaining area of the
territory still in their control.
Earlier Mr Medvedev said: 'I have decided to stop the operation to
force the Georgian authorities to peace.
The security of our peacekeepers and civilians has been restored.
'The aggressor has been punished and suffered very significant
losses. Its armed forces have been disorganised.'
His intervention prompted international relief amid hopes it would
calm world oil markets which have been shaken by the potential risk to
the major pipeline running through Georgian territory which supplies
many Western countries.
But there were clear warning signs that the conflict could continue as
Mr Medvedev said that Russian forces would still defend themselves and
crush any signs of Georgian resistance.
'If there are any emerging hotbeds of resistance or any aggressive
actions, you should take steps to destroy them,' he added.
The Georgian president responded by saying he would regard the
breakaway-regions Abkhazia and South Ossetia as occupied territories.
Mikhail Saakashvili says Georgia will officially designate Russian
peacekeepers in the provinces of Abkhazia and South Ossetia as
occupying forces.
His prime minister Lado Gurgenidze also said he wanted to see more
evidence of a Russian ceasefire and would remain 'prepared for
everything' until Moscow signed a formal peace deal.
Before the ceasefire order, today's new attacks - which came on the
fifth day of fighting since the conflict was triggered by Georgia's
attempt to seize control of South Ossetia - had raised fears that the
Georgian capital Tbilisi could come under threat.
On guard: Russian soldiers take cover as a tank convoy enters
Tskhinvali, capital of the Georgian breakaway enclave of South Ossetia
yesterday
Russia's deputy prime minister has warned that it will be 'decades'
before the South Ossetians might be ready to accept any Georgian
presence in their country and the Russian foreign minister Sergei
Lavrov today insisted that Georgia must sign a legally binding
document on the nonuse of force before any progress could be made.
He added that Moscow could not agree to any peace plan for South
Ossetia if it included Georgians in a future peacekeeping force
because they had attacked Russian colleagues during Tbilisi's push to
recapture the breakaway region.
'They can no longer remain. They brought shame upon themselves as
peacekeepers. They committed crimes,' said Mr Lavrov.
Earlier today, the crisis, which has claimed several thousand lives,
widened when Russian-backed rebels in Abkhazia launched artillery
strikes in a bid to drive Georgia forces out of the territory-
Abkhazia's self-styled foreign minister Sergei Shamba said his forces
were driving Georgian troops out of the Kodori Gorge - the last
remaining part of the territory held by Georgia.
He insisted that Russian soldiers were not involved despite Moscow's
deployment of more than 9,000 troops to the area earlier this week.
'The operation to liberate Kodori Gorge has started,' Mr Shamba
said. 'Our troops are making advances. We are hoping for success.'
That led to a defiant response from Mr Saakashvili, who told his
country to fight on. 'Georgia will never surrender,' he said.
'They should know Georgia will never surrender. I directly accuse
Russia of ethnic cleansing.'
The president added that his country had now effectively been cut in
two by the Russia's capture of the main eastwest highway close to the
key city of Gori.
Shortly after he spoke, Russian aircraft bombed Gori, injuring and
killing several civilians in the virtually deserted streets. A Dutch
TV cameraman was among those killed.
'The bombs hit in front of us and beside us,' a Reuters reporter
driving through Gori said.
'Several people were wounded and lying in the street. We got straight
out of there.' Georgian soldiers abandoned the town in disarray
yesterday.
The attack on Gori - coupled with Russia's capture of two strategic
towns, Senaki and Zugdidi, inside Georgia yesterday - intensified the
growing international unease.
Georgia borders the Black Sea between Turkey and Russia and was ruled
by Moscow for most of the two centuries preceding the 1991 break-up of
the Soviet Union.
Both South Ossetia and Abkhazia have run their own affairs without
international recognition since fighting to split from Georgia in the
early 1990s - and both have close ties with Moscow.
President Bush said today: 'Russia has invaded a sovereign
neighbouring state and threatens a democratic government elected by
its people.
Such an action is unacceptable in the 21st century.'
-Russia Times