TBILISI, Aug 10 (AFP): Georgia withdrew from the separatist region of South Ossetia Sunday after new clashes with Russian forces as Moscow amassed its military firepower to overwhelm its neighbour.
"We have left practically all of South Ossetia as an expression of goodwill and our willingness to stop military confrontation," Georgian National Security Council Secretary Alexander Lomaia told the agency.
Officials in South Ossetia, the separatist region at the heart of the fighting, said artillery fire was exchanged overnight and Georgia claimed Russian jets had bombed a military airfield near the Georgian capital Tbilisi.
Georgia also said Russia had brought 10,000 extra troops into South Ossetia and was assembling armoured vehicles close to the border. Reports said Russia was imposing a naval blocade after moving warships into range.
Lomaia said Georgia had asked the United States to act as a mediator with Russia in the conflict, which broke out in the middle of last week and has left 2,000 dead according to Russian figures.
"We have asked United States Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to mediate with the Russians, to transmit them our message," said Lomaia, after announcing the withdrawal.
US President George W. Bush has led a chorus of international calls to end the hostilities which observers fear might spread to other parts of the volatile Caucasus region.
Russia backs the separatist government in South Ossetia and sent in tanks and troops on Friday in response to pro-Western Georgia's military offensive to take back the province which broke away in the early 1990s after a separatist war.
In a new move demonstrating Moscow's giant military advantage, Russian warships were reported by Interfax news agency to be setting up a sea blockade to prevent arms and other military supplies from reaching Georgia.
"This is definitely necessary for preventing arms shipments to Georgia by sea," Interfax quoted a naval source as saying. "A sea blockade of Georgia will also help avert an escalation of military activity in Abkhazia."
