August 13, 2008

DEVELOPING STORY: — Russians are bombing and looting the city of Gori outside the breakaway province of South Ossetia on their way deeper into the country, witnesses say. Georgian Security Council Chief Alexander Lomaia said that the Russian military bombed Gori Wednesday morning and entered the city.

The Russian military then let paramilitaries into Gori who started massive looting. An AP reporter outside the city of Gori saw the convoy speeding past and heading south. The accusation came less than 12 hours after Georgia's president said he accepted a cease-fire plan brokered by France. The Russian president said that Russia was halting military action because Georgia had paid enough for its attack on South Ossetia, a separatist region along the Russian border with close ties to Moscow.

Still, Medvedev ordered the Russian defense minister at a televised Kremlin meeting to destroy any resistance or aggressive actions. Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili had gambled on a surprise attack late Thursday to regain control over his country's pro-Russian breakaway province of South Ossetia. Instead, Georgia suffered a punishing beating from Russian tanks and aircraft that has left the country with even less control over territory than it had before.

In the west, Georgian troops acknowledged Wednesday they had completely pulled out of a small section of Abkhazia, a second separatist region — a development that leaves the entire area in the hands of the Russian-backed separatists. A few dozen separatist fighters moved into Georgian territory on Wednesday, planting their flag on a bridge over the Inguri River.