USA may send US military to Georgia

According to a source in the Georgian State Office, today's talks between US Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld and the new Georgian authorities touched upon the presence of US military in Georgia. Rumsfeld said at a briefing after the talks that the USA was thinking about deploying direct-action corps in the region. However, neither specific recommendations were put forward nor actions taken in this respect as yet, he added.

The US official also reported that the program of military assistance to Georgia was approaching completion. Under the program, 2,750 special Georgian servicemen should be trained and equipped by the end of this year. The USA has already spent $64m for the program, and the US Defense Department and the Georgian Defense Ministry have just agreed that the program of military assistance would be continued.