MOSCOW/WASHINGTON (AFP)
Russian investigators on Thursday said they had opened a probe into whether Georgian forces committed genocide in their attack last week on the rebel South Ossetia region, RIA Novosti news agency reported.
The investigative committee of the prosecutor general "started a criminal probe concerning Article 357 of the Criminal Code -- genocide -- based on information received about actions by Georgia's armed forces aimed at the annihilation of Russian citizens living in South Ossetia and belonging to the Ossetian ethnicity," committee spokesman Igor Komissarov was quoted as saying.
Russian officials say 1,600 South Ossetians were killed in Georgia's attack on the separatist region, most of whose residents have Russian citizenship.
Tbilisi calls the number wildly inflated and has accused Moscow of war crimes since Russia launched a massive retaliatory strike against Georgia. |
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Bush supports Georgia Meanwhile, U.S. President George W. Bush demanded Russian troops leave Georgia as he dispatched Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice along with aid to the country in a strong show of support for his pro-West ally.
Rice, who departed on her trip at 0345 GMT Thursday, will hold talks with French President Nicolas Sarkozy -- who personally brokered the six-point ceasefire agreement -- then travel to Tbilisi to meet with pro-West Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili.
"The United States of America stands with the democratically elected government of Georgia, insists that the sovereignty and territorial integrity of Georgia be respected," Bush said in a brief White House statement on Wednesday.
Standing with Rice and U.S. Defense Secretary Robert Gates at his side in the White House Rose Garden, he scolded Moscow for its attacks on Georgia and warned it had put Russia's post-Cold War embrace by the West "at risk." |
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US "special project" Bush's comments were criticized by Moscow.
"The Georgian leadership is a special project for the United States," Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said, quoted by Interfax news agency.
"At some time it will be necessary to choose between supporting this virtual project and real partnership on questions which actually require collective action," he said, apparently referring to Moscow support for U.S.-led diplomatic efforts to end nuclear drives by Iran and North Korea.
White House spokeswoman Dana Perino reacted saying that Bush was "very clear-eyed about his relationship with the Russian leaders." She denied U.S.-Russian relations were on an adversarial footing, but admitted they were "complex and complicated." |
