U.S., NATO call for ceasefire in Georgia
Washington, 8 August (IranVNC)—The United States and NATO today called for an end to fighting in Georgia’s breakaway province of South Ossetia after that country’s military forces launched an attack on the separatist region.
By: IranVNC
Published: Friday, August 08, 2008
16:13GMT—12:13PM/EST
RUSSIA – GEORGIA – FIGHTING – REACTIONS
Washington, 8 August (IranVNC)—The United States and NATO today called for an end to fighting in Georgia’s breakaway province of South Ossetia after that country’s military forces launched an attack on the separatist region.
“I want to reiterate on his [US President George W. Bush’s] behalf that the United States supports Georgia’s territorial integrity and we call for an immediate ceasefire,” White House spokesperson, Dana Perino, said in a statement.
She added: “We urge all parties, Georgians, South Ossetians and Russians to de-escalate the tension and avoid conflict. We are working on mediation efforts to secure a ceasefire and we are urging the parties to restart their dialogue.”
Tensions escalated in Georgia’s separatist territory today as Russia, a major supporter of South Ossetia, sent tanks to the region and its troops in South Ossetia’s capital, Tskhinvali, began firing on Georgian forces.
Moscow’s move came after Georgian forces, using tanks, heavy artillery and aircraft, launched an attack on separatist forces in Tskhinvali yesterday, in an attempt to restore control over the territory.
Russia’s Defense Ministry said that at least 10 of its peacekeeping troops had been killed in the fighting.
A South Ossetian official was quoted by Russia’s RIA Novosti news agency as saying more than one thousand people had been killed in the over-night attacks by Georgia.
NATO has also called for a peaceful resolution to the conflict in a statement that read: “We are very closely following the situation and the NATO Secretary General [Jaap de Hoop Scheffer] calls on all sides for an immediate end of the armed clashes and calls for direct talks between the parties.”
For its part, the International Committee of the Red Cross [ICRC] has voiced concern over the violence in South Ossetia, and has called on all sides in the conflict to open a “humanitarian corridor” to let ambulances evacuate wounded people and for civilians to escape the conflict zone.
Speaking to reporters this morning, ICRC spokesperson, Anna Nelson, added: “We call on all sides to respect international humanitarian law and not to target civilians and to ensure that medical facilities and medical transport can treat wounded as necessary,” Reuters reports.
South Ossetia’s separatist administration has been seeking independence since a civil war in the early 1990s. Its inhabitants speak Ossetian – a language remotely related to Persian.
Sources: Reuters, Interfax News Agency, RIA Novosti, The Messenger, White House website
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