EUROPE 
Georgia, rebels to negotiate after clashes kill 12
Friday, 8 August, 2008
A Georgian soldier stands guard near the main city of rebel region South Ossetia where at least 12 have been killed in recent clashes (AAP)
Georgia and its rebel region South Ossetia have agreed to meet for talks, a news agency reported, after a day of clashes that officials said killed up to 12 people and injured more than 20.
Russian news agencies meanwhile reported renewed artillery fire in South Ossetia's main town of Tskhinvali overnight.
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"Tskhinvali is being shot at by mortar and heavy weapons from the Georgian villages of Nikozi and Ergneti and some houses are burning," Ria-Novosti news agency quoted an official speaking for Ossetia's ministry of emergency situations as saying.
Assault of Tskhinvali
Ossetian rebel leader Eduard Kokoity accused Georgia of having launched an all-out attack on Tskhinvali.
"The assault of Tskhinvali has started," he told Interfax news agency.
Also, the head of Georgian peacekeepers in the province, General Mamuka Kurashvili, said Friday the Georgian government had decided to "restore constitutional order" in the breakaway region.
Ambassador-at-large Yury Popov, Russia's point man for South Ossetia, was earlier quoted as saying by Interfax: "We have reached an agreement on a meeting tomorrow (Friday) at about 1:00 pm (0900 GMT) under Russian mediation."
Offer of autonomy
The agreement came as Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili announced a unilateral ceasefire and called for a resumption of talks to defuse tensions in South Ossetia, which broke away from Tbilisi in the early 1990s.
"Let's stop this spiral of violence ... Let's resume negotiations," Saakashvili said in a televised address.
The Georgian leader also reiterated a previous offer of broad autonomy for South Ossetia, whose independence is not recognised by any other state.
Saakashvili said that Russia -- which backs the separatists -- could serve as a guarantor of South Ossetian autonomy, a new offer by Tbilisi.
At least 12 killed: report
In clashes in South Ossetia, "up to 10 Georgian soldiers were killed and many were injured," Shota Utiashvili, a spokesman for the Georgian interior ministry, told AFP.
Meanwhile two civilians were killed and two others seriously injured in the South Ossetian village of Khetagurovo after coming under Georgian attack, separatist authorities said on their website.
Georgian officials previously said five service personnel had been injured in two separate incidents Thursday, while South Ossetian authorities said 18 people had been wounded by Georgian fire overnight in the region.
UN 'seriously concerned'
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon expressed "serious concern" about the violence, his spokeswoman said in a statement.
EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana called Saakashvili and urged him to start peace talks with the rebels, Solana's office said.
Locals near the conflict zone said they heard heavy fighting, and an AFP reporter saw two columns of Georgian forces approaching South Ossetia from near the Georgian town of Gori.
One column contained 40 trucks full of armed interior ministry troops, some towing heavy artillery pieces, while the other column consisted of about 15 armoured personnel carriers.
"During the day I could hear explosions and gunfire. It was terrifying," Niko Gelomnishvili, a villager leading his cow near a Georgian checkpoint in the village of Megvrekisi, told AFP.
Violence escalating
Tensions have soared in South Ossetia since the rebels reported that six people had died in weekend shooting and announced that hundreds of women and children were being evacuated from the region.
In recent months, Moscow and Tbilisi have sparred repeatedly over South Ossetia and another breakaway Georgian region, Abkhazia.
Georgia's pro-Western government accuses Moscow of seeking to annex the two regions and derail its efforts to join the transatlantic NATO alliance, which Russia vehemently opposes.
In the latest diplomatic exchanges, Russian deputy foreign minister Grigory Karasin accused Georgia of "military preparations" while a top Georgian official said Russia was fuelling the conflict by supplying arms.
Georgia blames Russia
Karasin said he was concerned by a Georgian military buildup, Russia's foreign ministry statement said in a statement.
In a conversation with rebel leader Kokoity, "concern was expressed at Georgian actions extremely close to Tskhinvali, which can be considered military preparations," the statement said.
For its part, Georgia blamed Moscow for the rise in tensions.
"Russia is responsible for what is happening now in the conflict zone. Because it's not us who supply the arms for the separatists," Georgian Reintegration Minister Temur Yakobashvili said in a briefing.
Source: AFP
Russian news agencies meanwhile reported renewed artillery fire in South Ossetia's main town of Tskhinvali overnight.
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"Tskhinvali is being shot at by mortar and heavy weapons from the Georgian villages of Nikozi and Ergneti and some houses are burning," Ria-Novosti news agency quoted an official speaking for Ossetia's ministry of emergency situations as saying.
Assault of Tskhinvali
Ossetian rebel leader Eduard Kokoity accused Georgia of having launched an all-out attack on Tskhinvali.
"The assault of Tskhinvali has started," he told Interfax news agency.
Also, the head of Georgian peacekeepers in the province, General Mamuka Kurashvili, said Friday the Georgian government had decided to "restore constitutional order" in the breakaway region.
Ambassador-at-large Yury Popov, Russia's point man for South Ossetia, was earlier quoted as saying by Interfax: "We have reached an agreement on a meeting tomorrow (Friday) at about 1:00 pm (0900 GMT) under Russian mediation."
Offer of autonomy
The agreement came as Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili announced a unilateral ceasefire and called for a resumption of talks to defuse tensions in South Ossetia, which broke away from Tbilisi in the early 1990s.
"Let's stop this spiral of violence ... Let's resume negotiations," Saakashvili said in a televised address.
The Georgian leader also reiterated a previous offer of broad autonomy for South Ossetia, whose independence is not recognised by any other state.
Saakashvili said that Russia -- which backs the separatists -- could serve as a guarantor of South Ossetian autonomy, a new offer by Tbilisi.
At least 12 killed: report
In clashes in South Ossetia, "up to 10 Georgian soldiers were killed and many were injured," Shota Utiashvili, a spokesman for the Georgian interior ministry, told AFP.
Meanwhile two civilians were killed and two others seriously injured in the South Ossetian village of Khetagurovo after coming under Georgian attack, separatist authorities said on their website.
Georgian officials previously said five service personnel had been injured in two separate incidents Thursday, while South Ossetian authorities said 18 people had been wounded by Georgian fire overnight in the region.
UN 'seriously concerned'
UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon expressed "serious concern" about the violence, his spokeswoman said in a statement.
EU foreign policy chief Javier Solana called Saakashvili and urged him to start peace talks with the rebels, Solana's office said.
Locals near the conflict zone said they heard heavy fighting, and an AFP reporter saw two columns of Georgian forces approaching South Ossetia from near the Georgian town of Gori.
One column contained 40 trucks full of armed interior ministry troops, some towing heavy artillery pieces, while the other column consisted of about 15 armoured personnel carriers.
"During the day I could hear explosions and gunfire. It was terrifying," Niko Gelomnishvili, a villager leading his cow near a Georgian checkpoint in the village of Megvrekisi, told AFP.
Violence escalating
Tensions have soared in South Ossetia since the rebels reported that six people had died in weekend shooting and announced that hundreds of women and children were being evacuated from the region.
In recent months, Moscow and Tbilisi have sparred repeatedly over South Ossetia and another breakaway Georgian region, Abkhazia.
Georgia's pro-Western government accuses Moscow of seeking to annex the two regions and derail its efforts to join the transatlantic NATO alliance, which Russia vehemently opposes.
In the latest diplomatic exchanges, Russian deputy foreign minister Grigory Karasin accused Georgia of "military preparations" while a top Georgian official said Russia was fuelling the conflict by supplying arms.
Georgia blames Russia
Karasin said he was concerned by a Georgian military buildup, Russia's foreign ministry statement said in a statement.
In a conversation with rebel leader Kokoity, "concern was expressed at Georgian actions extremely close to Tskhinvali, which can be considered military preparations," the statement said.
For its part, Georgia blamed Moscow for the rise in tensions.
"Russia is responsible for what is happening now in the conflict zone. Because it's not us who supply the arms for the separatists," Georgian Reintegration Minister Temur Yakobashvili said in a briefing.
Source: AFP
