GEORGIAN LEADER RAILS AGAINST RUSSIA, ANNOUNCES BREAK FROM CIS

RIA Novosti
18:09 | 12/ 08/ 2008

MOSCOW, August 12 (RIA Novosti) – Georgia’s president gave a speech
in front of thousands of flag-waving supporters outside parliament
on Tuesday, denouncing Russia and declaring his country’s withdrawal
from a post-Soviet alliance.

Mikheil Saakashvili has accused Russia of occupying half his country
in a "peace enforcement operation" that ended on Tuesday. Russia says
it no longer considers Saakashvili a partner, following Georgia’s
offensive in breakaway Ossetia last Friday, which killed at least
1,600 people, most of whom were Russian citizens.

"As president of Georgia, I stand before you in very difficult
circumstances… Yesterday I saw with my own eyes how we were bombed,"
he said.

Georgia will "continue to stand firm" against the Russian aggressors,
the president told the crowd.

He also announced that his country would leave the Commonwealth of
Independent States, and urged Ukraine to follow suit.

"We have decided that Georgia will leave the CIS," he said. "We
urge Ukraine and other countries to also leave the Commonwealth of
Independent States, which is dominated by Russia."

Excluding Georgia, the CIS has 10 full members – Armenia, Azerbaijan,
Belarus, Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Moldova, Russia, Tajikistan, Ukraine
and Uzbekistan.

Saakashvili said Georgia now considers Russian troops in the South
Ossetia and Abkhazia, Georgia’s other rebel region, to be occupiers.

"We have taken the decision to declare Russian armed forces in Abkhazia
and South Ossetia occupying forces," he said.

Russia’s foreign minister earlier on Tuesday highlighted the severity
of the crimes committed by Georgian forces in their attack on South
Ossetia, and said Russia can no longer negotiate with President
Saakashvili.

"The best thing would be for him to resign," Sergei Lavrov said.

Saakashvili "has killed our [Russian] citizens, ordered the crushing
of women and children by tanks, and the burning alive of a group of
girls herded into a cattle shed," Lavrov said. "And not only did he
do all this with a background of European flags, but he declared that
he was safeguarding American values."

"The crimes committed by the Tbilisi regime in South Ossetia merit
investigation at an international tribunal," he said.