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Russian president signs Georgia ceasefire plan

A South Ossetian militiaman walks in front of the ruins of a building in Tskhinvali, South Ossetia, on Friday. PHOTO: AP

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev yesterday signed the plan for a ceasefire in Georgia that his Georgian counterpart reluctantly agreed to a day earlier, setting the stage for a Russian troop withdrawal after more than a week of warfare.

The Russian leader signed the order in the resort city of Sochi, where the president has a summer residence, Medvedev spokesman Alexei Pavlov said, without providing further details.

The ceasefire plan calls for Russian forces to withdraw to the positions they held before the fighting broke out in Georgia’s Russian-backed separatist province of South Ossetia.

That appears to mean that hundreds of Russian soldiers who had been in South Ossetia previously as peacekeepers will be allowed to return.

The plan also grants Russian forces limited rights to patrol Georgia proper, apparently with the aim of discouraging the Georgian military or partisans from establishing forward positions near South Ossetia.

Less clear so far is whether Georgia would be able to return its soldiers to the areas in South Ossetia where its peacekeepers had been stationed.

But any attempt by Georgia to do that would run into towering opposition.

Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili signed the deal on Friday in Tbilisi after lengthy talks with US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice.

Meanwhile, teams of ethnic Georgians, some under armed guard, were being forced to clean the streets of South Ossetia’s capital yesterday.

It was the first apparent evidence of humiliation or abuse of Georgians in the Russian-controlled breakaway republic.

Three teams of ethnic Georgians, men in their 40s and 50s, were seen cleaning the streets of Tskhinvali, which was badly damaged in the fighting.

When approached, one worker confirmed that he was being forced to work.

One group of about two dozen men was escorted through the streets by armed Ossetians and a Russian officer.

“Labor even turns monkeys into humans,” the Russian officer said.

The officer threatened to arrest an AP photographer if he took pictures.
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