U.S. Take Control of Georgian Ports

TBILISI (Reuters) – President George W. Bush’s pledge to send aid to Georgia means that the U.S. military will take control of the ex-Soviet state’s ports and airports, Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili said on Wednesday.

“You have heard the statement by the U.S. president that the United States is starting a military-humanitarian operation in Georgia,” Saakashvili said in a television address.

“It means that Georgian ports and airports will be taken under the control of the U.S. defense ministry in order to conduct humanitarian and other missions. This is a very important statement for easing tension.”

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Russia: Georgian troops in South Ossetia surrendering

MOSCOW, August 11 (RIA Novosti) – Georgian troops have been surrounded in South Ossetia and are giving themselves up, a senior Russian military official said on Monday.

“Russian troops are currently disarming the surrounded Georgian forces in South Ossetia,” Col. Gen. Anatoly Nagovitsyn, deputy head of the General Staff, told a news conference.

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Russia opens 2nd front in Georgia, seizing towns

GORI, Georgia – Russian armored vehicles rolled deep into western Georgia on Monday, quickly seizing several towns and a military base and slicing open a damaging second front in Russia’s battle with Georgia. Other Russian forces captured the key central city of Gori.

Fighting also raged Monday around Tskhinvali, the capital of the separatist province of South Ossetia. Swarms of Russian planes launched new raids across Georgia, sending screaming civilians running for cover.

The invasions of Gori and the towns of Senaki, Zugdidi and Kurga came despite a top Russian general’s claim earlier Monday that Russia had no plans to enter Georgian territory. By taking Gori, which sits on Georgia’s only east-west highway, Russia has the potential to effectively cut the country in half.

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Georgia calls back troops from Iraq amid fighting

TBILISI, Georgia (AP) – Georgia’s president says the country is calling home its troops from Iraq amid heavy fighting in the breakaway province of South Ossetia.

Georgia has 2,000 troops serving with the coalition forces in Iraq, making it the third-largest contributor after the United States and Britain.

But Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili told CNN television Friday the troops would return urgently to Georgia after fighting erupted in South Ossetia.

“One brigade of Georgian forces is in Iraq and we are calling it home tomorrow,” Saakashvili said in the interview.

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