By Country / Georgia

UN Wants More Facts On Georgia-Russia Dispute

August 10, 2007 -- The president of the UN Security Council
says the council wants more information before it holds an emergency
meeting on Georgian allegations that Russia launched a missile attack
on Georgian territory.

Current Security Council President Pascal Gayama, who is from the Republic of Congo, said council members had decided to wait for more facts about the case, particularly information from the Organization For Security And Cooperation in Europe (OSCE).

According to Georgian officials, the missile was dropped on August 6 near a village close the Georgian capital and just a few kilometers from the Georgian separatist region of South Ossetia. The missile left a deep crater in a cornfield but did not explode.

Tbilisi says the missile was a Russian-made Raduga Kh-58, and claims it was launched from one of two Russian jets that had infiltrated Georgian air space.

Russia's military chief of staff, General Yuri Baluyevsky, accused Georgia on August 9 of fabricating the reports. He said Tbilisi's claims were "a provocation against Russia."

He added that Tbilisi is "in a state of confusion" over the future of its rebel territories, saying an international decision to grant independence to the Serbian province of Kosovo could result in Georgia losing its breakaway regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia. Both enjoy Russia's support.

Georgian officials continue to describe the alleged air strike as an "act of aggression" by Russia.

(with material from agency reports)