Clashes and Call for Cease Fire

Clashes With Rebels Deepen War Fears, (Washington Post)…Unattributed, August 8, 2008, Pg. 11

The capital of Georgia’s separatist region of South Ossetia came under heavy fire early Friday, just hours after Georgia’s president declared a unilateral cease-fire, news reports and the rebel government said.

“The assault is coming from all directions,” said a brief statement on the separatist government’s Web site. Officials in South Ossetia and Georgia could not be reached by telephone by the Associated Press for confirmation early Friday.

The Interfax news agency, reporting from the South Ossetian capital, Tskhinvali, cited Vladimir Ivanov, an official of the peacekeeping forces in South Ossetia, as saying the fire included salvos by truck-launched Grad missiles.

A week of clashes and escalating tension in South Ossetia has raised fears of an all-out war that could draw in Russia, which has close ties with South Ossetia’s separatist leadership.

At Russia’s request, the United Nations Security Council began meeting in emergency session starting at 11 p.m. Thursday in New York.