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DZHAVA, Georgia-Russian President Dmitry Medvedev described the situation in Georgia's embattled breakaway region of South Ossetia as a "humanitarian catastrophe," Reuters reporeted Russian news agencies as saying Saturday."People who are responsible for this humanitarian catastrophe should carry responsibility for what they have done," they quoted Medvedev as telling officials summoned to discuss humanitarian aid to the province. "Our task is to help overcome the consequences of the humanitarian catastrophe. "Russia Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov said some 1,500 people have been killed in fighting in South Ossetia.Lavrov said in a conference call with foreign journalists that the deathtoll is continuing to rise.Medvedev said Friday that Russian troops in South Ossetia must force Georgia into a cease fire and also protect civilians in the province, most of whose residents hold Russian passports.Fighting raged for a second day Saturday in the South Ossetia region as the country's interior ministry accused Russia of launching new air attacks on three military bases and key facilities for shipping oil to the West.Russia dispatched an armored column into South Ossetia on Friday after Georgia, a staunchMost of the capital of Tskhinvali was in ruins. Carcasses of burned Georgian tanks and dead bodies littered the streets, and sporadic shooting continued through the night and into the morning.The fighting, which devastated the capital of Tskhinvali, threatened to ignite a wider war between Georgia and Russia, and escalate tensions between Moscow and Washington. Georgia said it was forced to launch the assault because of rebel attacks; the separatists alleged Georgia violated its own cease-fire.Georgia's President Mikhail Saakashvili accused Russia of waging an aggression against his country. Russia said it needs to act to protect its peacekeepers and civilians in South Ossetia, where most residents hold Russian passports.Georgia's Interior Ministry spokesman Shota Utiashvili said the Vaziani military base on the outskirts of the Georgian capital was bombed by Russian warplanes during the night and that bombs fell in the area of the Baku-Tbilisi-Ceyhan oil pipeline.He also said two other Georgian military bases were hit and that warplanes bombed the Black Sea port city of Poti, which has a sizable oil shipment facility.Utiashvili said there apparently were significant casualties and damage in the attacks, but that further details would not be known until the morning...To read more go to:
As in the days of Noah...
