Georgian troops in South Ossetia

The long-frozen South Ossetian conflict has taken a violent turn this month in what both the conflicting sides and powerful regional stakeholders warn could lead to a full-scale war that would be devastating for the whole region. Both sides are playing the blame game, accusing each other as well as a mysterious third force of instigating the violence. In addition, Georgia's populist president, Mikheil Saakashvili, has repeatedly pointed the finger at Moscow, accusing it of supporting the separatist regime. The self-styled South Ossetian republic had no obvious interest in heating up the conflict frozen for more than 12 years. As time goes by, the international community has grown increasingly used to South Ossetia's de facto independence, if not to its claim to self-determination. Neither is Russia interested in changing the status quo, which gives it much leverage in dealing with Georgia. The fact that many South Ossetians have been granted Russian citizenship clearly reveals Russia's true intentions vis-a-vis its neighbor despite Moscow's status as a mediator and peacekeeper. Equally, Saakashvili rightly feels it is his presidential duty to reintegrate South Ossetia and believes he has the international community's support for doing so. After all, the West warmly embraced Saakashvili's "velvet" ousting of his predecessor and re-establishment of Tbilisi's control over Adzharia, informs The Moscow Times. According VOANews, to Georgia has pulled its troops out of the republic of South Ossetia. The soldiers withdrew from the heights above the Ossetian of capital of Tskhinvali Thursday, turning the area over to peacekeepers. Georgia says three of its soldiers were killed in earlier fighting, while Ossetian authorities say three civilians died from Georgian shelling. Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili called the pullout the last chance for peace in South Ossetia. But he warned he would send the troops back in if Georgian civilians are attacked by separatists. Fighting between Georgian troops and Ossetian separatists had been continuing despite a week-old ceasefire. South Ossetia declared independence from Georgia in the early 1990s and says it wants to become part of Russia. Mr. Saakashvili vows not let Georgia break apart. Georgia withdrew its troops from South Ossetia after first pouring in tanks and soldiers in a show of force aimed at winning control over the separatist pro-Russia republic. Chanelnewsasia publishes that the manoeuvers, the first of their kind, prompted a furious reaction from Moscow and highlighted how far tensions have escalated in a strategic region that has seen several bloody conflicts since the Soviet Union's collapse in 1991. "We have withdrawn from the positions that we took earlier and they are now being patrolled by peacekeepers," said Givi Yukuridze, chief of staff of the Georgian army. Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili had said earlier in the day his country was poised to strike further into South Ossetia but would prefer to withdraw its troops and begin political negotiations. It was his first direct admission of the presence of his military in South Ossetia proper, rather than in a peacekeeping zone that is also patrolled by Russian and South Ossetian troops. Georgia withdrew its troops from South Ossetia after first pouring in tanks and soldiers in a show of force aimed at winning control over the separatist pro-Russia republic. The manoeuvers, the first of their kind, prompted a furious reaction from Moscow and highlighted how far tensions have escalated in a strategic region that has seen several bloody conflicts since the Soviet Union's collapse in 1991. "We have withdrawn from the positions that we took earlier and they are now being patrolled by peacekeepers," said Givi Yukuridze, chief of staff of the Georgian army. Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili had said earlier in the day his country was poised to strike further into South Ossetia but would prefer to withdraw its troops and begin political negotiations. It was his first direct admission of the presence of his military in South Ossetia proper, rather than in a peacekeeping zone that is also patrolled by Russian and South Ossetian troops.