West condemns Russia over Georgia

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By David Alexander and Oleg Shchedrov

TBILISI/SOCHI (Reuters) - The United States demanded onFriday that Russian troops end their occupation of Georgiaimmediately after Georgia signed a ceasefire agreement.

Speaking alongside Georgian leader Mikheil Saakashvili,visiting U.S. Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice evoked theSoviet-led invasion of Czechoslovakia 40 years ago to crushliberal reforms: "Russian forces need to leave Georgia at once.This is no longer 1968."

Saakashvili said following five hours of talks with Rice hehad inked the ceasefire pact, negotiated by France on behalf ofthe European Union.

As they were speaking, a Reuters correspondent witnessed acolumn of up to 17 Russian armoured personnel carriersadvancing along the main highway to within 55 km (34 miles) ofthe Georgian capital, their deepest move yet inside Georgia.

The purpose of the incursion was not immediately clear.

Saakashvili, in passionate remarks, denounced Russians as"21st century barbarians" and blamed the West for triggeringthe crisis by failing to react firmly to Moscow's previousmilitary moves and not admitting Georgia to NATO fast enough.

"Who invited the trouble here?" he said, flanked by severallarge Georgian and U.S. flags. "...Not only those people whoperpetrated this, but those who failed to stop it."

The simmering crisis over the rebel Georgian region ofSouth Ossetia exploded last Thursday when Georgia sent a forceto try to retake the Russian-backed province, provoking amassive counter-attack by Moscow.

The Kremlin deployed warships, planes, tanks and troopsagainst Georgia in its biggest military operation outside itsborders since the 1991 fall of the Soviet Union. Its troopscontinue to occupy part of Georgia, although combat has ceased.

Signs multiplied on Friday of Russia's growinginternational isolation. Its biggest trading partner Germanycondemned it for going too far in Georgia and neighbouringPoland sealed a pact with Washington to host part of ananti-missile system.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev showed defiance aftermeeting German Chancellor Angela Merkel in the Black Sea resortof Sochi, several hundred km (miles) along the coast from theconflict zone.

He said Moscow would respond the same way if itspeacekeepers were attacked again and questioned whether therebel regions at the centre of the conflict could ever liveagain under Georgian rule.

Medvedev denounced the Polish-U.S. deal as a threat toRussia. "The deployment of new anti-missile forces has as itsaim the Russian Federation," he told a news conferencealongside Merkel.

"Therefore any fairy tales about deterring other states,fairy tales that with the help of this system, we will detersome sort of rogue states, no longer work."

But U.S. President George W. Bush said Moscow's decision tosend in troops had hurt its credibility overseas.

"Bullying and intimidation are not acceptable ways toconduct foreign policy in the 21st century," he said inWashington before departing for a holiday in Texas.

Merkel also called on the Kremlin to pull its forces out ofcentral Georgia and implement the French-led peace plan.

"We very much want the six-point plan to be implementedvery promptly so that Russian troops are no longer in Georgia,outside Abkhazia and South Ossetia," she told the joint newsconference with Medvedev.

Pressure from Berlin is significant because Moscowgenerally regards it as a more sympathetic partner than formerCold War foes London and Washington.

The conflict has rattled oil markets because a key pipelineruns through Georgia. It has also unnerved the West, whichfears the conflict could easily escalate in the volatileregion.

ALLIES SILENT

Even Russia's normally reliable allies in parts of theformer Soviet Union have remained mostly silent on the issue.Many are uneasy about military intervention by the Kremlin inits former vassals.

Russia says its actions are fully justified by Georgia's"aggression" and "genocide" in attacking South Ossetia lastweek, where many residents hold Russian passports.

It maintains its troops must stay on the ground in Georgiato secure the situation and prevent further conflict. Russianground forces are mainly based around the central town of Gori,70 km (40 miles) west of the Georgian capital.

The two sides traded accusations on Friday of misconduct inthe war zone. Georgia quoted a U.S. human rights group allegingthat Russia had used cluster bombs against civilians -- acharge denied by Russia -- while Moscow accused Tbilisi'stroops of planting mines in civilian areas as they retreated.

In Moscow, the General Staff said at its daily newsbriefing that there had been no shooting in the past 24 hours.

The United Nations has expressed alarm at lawlessness inwar-torn areas. Witnesses in the area have seen Ossetianmilitiamen attacking villages and stealing cars.

Refugees told of a lawless zone in the villages runningnorth from Gori to Tskhinvali, the devastated capital of SouthOssetia taken by Russian forces after heavy fighting.

"Many people have been burned alive in their homes," saidan old Georgian woman in Gori, pulling a trolley piled withbags.

Russian soldiers near Gori - some lounging in the middaysun, others manning tanks and armoured personnel carriers -looked bored on Friday as they denied reports of looting.

"We're the regular army," said Vita, wiping sweat from hisbrow with the sleeve of his camouflage uniform. "There's noviolence, no looting. All is quiet."

Russia says 1,600 civilians died when Georgia attackedSouth Ossetia, though the figure has not been independentlyverified.

Moscow's General Staff has said it lost 74 soldiers in thefighting, with 171 wounded and 19 missing. At least fourwarplanes have been shot down.

Georgia puts deaths on its side at over 175, with hundredsinjured. That figure does not include South Ossetia.

(Additional reporting by James Kilner in Igoeti, MargaritaAntidze and Matt Robinson in Tbilisi and Richard Cowan inWashington; Writing by Michael Stott in Moscow, editing byJanet McBride)