UN Urges Immediate Russian Withdrawal From Georgia

The Secretary-General urged all sides to immediately enter negotiations to try to obtain a peaceful settlement of their conflict, and he welcomed international efforts to end the crisis.

(GENEVA) - UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has called for an immediate end to the fighting engulfing Georgia, voicing fears that the deadly violence has spread beyond the country's South Ossetia region and urging all sides to seek a peaceful solution to their conflict.

In a statement issued last night, Mr. Ban said he was alarmed by “the escalation of hostilities in Georgia which have resulted in large numbers of casualties and massive destruction in South Ossetia and other regions of Georgia.”

Media reports indicate that hundreds of people, mainly civilians, have been killed in the past few days as Georgian forces have fought Russian and South Ossetian forces. Thousands of people have fled to North Ossetia in Russia or to other parts of Georgia to try to escape the violence.

The Security Council is holding consultations on the crisis this morning, and may later hold a formal meeting. It has met three times since the early hours of Friday morning to discuss the situation in Georgia.

Mr. Ban said in his statement that he was particularly concerned that the fighting was spreading into other regions of Georgia outside South Ossetia, such as the Abkhaz zone of conflict in the northwest, where a UN observer mission (known as UNOMIG) is tasked with enforcing a 1993 ceasefire.

Assistant Secretary-General for Peacekeeping Operations Edmond Mulet told a Council meeting yesterday that Abkhaz forces have started shelling in the Upper Kodori Valley and a military build-up has begun.

Mr. Mulet said UNOMIG understood a military operation in the Upper Kodori Valley by Abkhaz forces was imminent, and the mission has withdrawn its patrols from the valley because of fears for their safety.

Warning that such a military operation “could be dangerously destabilizing,” Mr. Ban called for maximum restraint from all sides and a guarantee of the safety and security of the unarmed military observers serving with UNOMIG.

The Secretary-General urged all sides to immediately enter negotiations to try to obtain a peaceful settlement of their conflict, and he welcomed international efforts to end the crisis.

He added that steps must be taken to tackle the humanitarian suffering that has emerged from the fighting.

To successfully resolve the conflict, “all armed contingents which are not authorized by respective agreements on South Ossetia should leave the zone of conflict,” Mr. Ban noted.

“The Secretary-General urges all parties to respect the principle of the territorial integrity of States enshrined in the [UN] Charter and to refrain from actions that could undermine efforts to settle the long-standing conflicts in Georgia.”

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Henry Ruark August 13, 2008 6:21 pm (Pacific time)

Tel et al: Checked your link to learn it is standard neocon source, owned by Murdoch, established, edited by Kristol et al. Sixteen-page diatribe is rewrite from their files, with obvious distortions to be expected. Appreciate your link, but distrust its content --as you knew would happen. SO why try to mislead, deceive readers by passing it off as if trusted nonpartisan source ? We opereate on good faith here, as you may have noted; and we expect others to do same or become known for that other action whose name I will allow each to choose...perhaps after seeking out same link, and "seeing with own eyes", then evaluating with own mind. Fair enough, Tel ? Game is fun, rules are rules, and I understand your dedication - just questioning both motives and compensation after same situation in several threads. So now we know, esp. if have sought out your last link !! Anyone else feel somewhat insulted, since treated as if easy-mark and essentially too stupid to check ???

Telford August 12, 2008 9:27 am (Pacific time)

Henry this current conflict most certainly points out how we need to have someone in the Oval office that has these two qualities: experience and judgment. How do our current candidates stack up in this area? No doubt the supporters of either candidate are probably not going to change their opinions, but the independents and fence-sitters will most likely start thinking about these characteristics mentioned above. Henry I took the time and read some of your sources you mentioned and enjoyed them, thank you for referencing them. May I suggest an article I found to be quite illuminating. It is by a Harvard Ph.D (in Social anthropology), by the name of Stanley Kurtz, and as you know Sen. Obama is also a Harvard graduate, the link is: http://www.weeklystandard.com/Content/Public/Articles/000/000/015/386abhgm.asp. It is a relatively short read, but provides some much needed insight into Obama's background, which is essential info for the voters, don't you think?

Henry Ruark August 11, 2008 2:12 pm (Pacific time)

Tel et al: UN strength, influence, potential to act via both diplomacy (read "brokering") and threat of cooperative interntional action, have all been weakened, watered-down and denigrated via intentional U.S. policy since Reagan. That, too, is consequence of neo-con policies, monetarism a la Friedman/Chicago School, and increasing corporate control of U.S. and other formerly "independent" states. Remember Colin Powell and the infamous "sixteen words" persuasive-effort at the U.N.?

sts August 11, 2008 11:13 am (Pacific time)

Goergia (backed by the U.S. and Israel), brutally attacked south Ossetia, killing countless citizens, and pinning down Russian Police. Russia went in to aid their fellow Russians.

Telford August 10, 2008 1:41 pm (Pacific time)

The United Nations is really rather impotent in this situation, though brokering some kind of ceasefire is essential considering they both have nukes. The prevailing winds would bring radiation here very quickly. Henry remember the movie On the Beach? I sometimes wonder if that scenario is just around the corner.

Henry Ruark August 10, 2008 12:24 pm (Pacific time)

To all: Please also note remarkably similar statements from both Sen. Obama and Sen. McCain, sensibly suggesting very strong international actions by the UN, despite the very despoiling action by the Bush cabal undermining UN influence for some years recently. It is, of course, essential for Sen. McCain to separate himself from the Bush regime.

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UN Urges Immediate Russian Withdrawal From Georgia

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