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US says believes Russians bombed Georgia
( 2002-08-24 09:30 ) (7 )

Monitors from the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe confirmed a Russian air attack on Georgian territory on Friday, in effect dismissing a Russian denial, a US official said.

Georgian State Security Ministry spokesman Nika Laliashvili told Reuters in Tbilisi that a 65-year-old man was killed in the bombing and seven people were injured.

Russia denied any responsibility for the killing, saying its planes had not flown over the area on Friday.

But the US official, who asked not to be named, said, "We understand that OSCE border monitors have verified aerial bombing of an area south of Girvei in Georgia, causing civilian death and injuries." The planes were Russian, he added.

US officials had no immediate comment on the tension between Russia and Georgia, whose relations have hit new lows in the past week as Moscow accused Georgia of turning a blind eye to Chechen guerrillas in the lawless Pankisi Gorge and refusing to hand over rebels arrested by Georgian forces.

The State Department and the White House were consulting late on Friday on what to say about the incident, with the State Department initially inclined to criticize the bombing and to call for a reduction in tensions, one official said.

The bombing is close to the Pankisi Gorge, an area of great interest to the United States because of suspicions that it is a refuge for militant Islamists.

US-trained Georgian troops are due to launch large-scale war games close to the gorge on Sunday in parallel with operations by police and special forces in the gorge itself.

US special forces advisers have been training the Georgian army since May to take on the Islamic militants.

The US advisers will attend large-scale Georgian war games at the end of August in the Akhmeta region that includes Pankisi. Senior officials, including Georgian President Eduard Shevardnadze, have said troops will not enter the gorge.

US Sen. Sam Brownback, a Kansas Republican and senior member of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, said he was "shocked and dismayed" at the Russian bombing.

"Russia needs to stop such activity immediately and apologize to the Georgian government for violating its airspace and engaging in activities that undermine peace and stability in the Caucasus," he said in a statement.