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| Version 0 | Version 1 |
|---|---|
| Georgia denies war crimes claim | Georgia denies war crimes claim |
| (about 3 hours later) | |
| President Mikhail Saakashvili has denied that Georgia's armed forces committed war crimes during their attack on South Ossetia in August. | President Mikhail Saakashvili has denied that Georgia's armed forces committed war crimes during their attack on South Ossetia in August. |
| Evidence obtained by the BBC in the breakaway region suggests Georgia used indiscriminate force, and may have targeted civilians. | Evidence obtained by the BBC in the breakaway region suggests Georgia used indiscriminate force, and may have targeted civilians. |
| Witnesses said tanks had fired on an apartment block, and civilians were shot at as they fled the fighting. | Witnesses said tanks had fired on an apartment block, and civilians were shot at as they fled the fighting. |
| UK Foreign Secretary David Miliband has raised the issue with Tbilisi. | UK Foreign Secretary David Miliband has raised the issue with Tbilisi. |
| Mr Saakashvili said: "We strongly deny any of this - any accusation of war crimes - but of course, we are very open for any kind of comments, we are very open for any kind of investigation. | Mr Saakashvili said: "We strongly deny any of this - any accusation of war crimes - but of course, we are very open for any kind of comments, we are very open for any kind of investigation. |
| "We called indeed for international investigation into [the] conduct of this war, into conditions leading to this war, into circumstances leading to this invasion." | "We called indeed for international investigation into [the] conduct of this war, into conditions leading to this war, into circumstances leading to this invasion." |
| There were certainly war crimes committed, certainly not by us Mikhail Saakashvili The claims against Georgia | There were certainly war crimes committed, certainly not by us Mikhail Saakashvili The claims against Georgia |
| He added: "Those areas which were under Georgian control - and they were not Georgian villages, they were basically villages mostly predominantly populated by ethnic Ossetians but they were affiliated with the Georgian government - were 100% destroyed. | He added: "Those areas which were under Georgian control - and they were not Georgian villages, they were basically villages mostly predominantly populated by ethnic Ossetians but they were affiliated with the Georgian government - were 100% destroyed. |
| "So, you know, there were certainly war crimes committed, certainly not by us." | "So, you know, there were certainly war crimes committed, certainly not by us." |
| 'Without favour' | 'Without favour' |
| Mr Miliband - normally a strong supporter of Georgia - told the BBC: "I think the Georgian action was reckless, I think the Russian response was disproportionate and wrong. | |
| "And that is the series of events that have landed us where we are. | |
| "On my visit to Tbilisi of course I raised at the highest level in Georgia, the questions that have been asked and raised about war crimes and other military actions by the Georgian authorities. | |
| "We have acted in this without fear, without favour." | |
| South Ossetia and another region, Abkhazia, broke away from Georgia in the early 1990s, in the aftermath of the collapse of the Soviet Union. | South Ossetia and another region, Abkhazia, broke away from Georgia in the early 1990s, in the aftermath of the collapse of the Soviet Union. |
| Georgia's attempt to re-conquer South Ossetia triggered a Russian invasion and the most serious crisis in relations between the Kremlin and the West since the Cold War. | Georgia's attempt to re-conquer South Ossetia triggered a Russian invasion and the most serious crisis in relations between the Kremlin and the West since the Cold War. |