Russian troops start withdrawal from Georgia

POTI, Georgia - Russian troops on Saturday left two camps near Georgia's port of Poti, starting a withdrawal pledged by Moscow in a European Union-brokered accord on ending the conflict in the ex-Soviet state.

A convoy of trucks and armoured transport vehicles left the observation post of Nabada at 7:45am (0345 GMT), taking troops from a camp that had been set up near a Black Sea beach to control maritime traffic from the strategic port.

Fifteen minutes later, Russian forces left another post at the entrance to Poti, continuing a pullback from some of the deepest positions in Georgia where they dug in after routing Georgia's small US-trained army last month.

"We shall leave soon. To Abkhazia and Russia," a Russian soldier told AFP ahead of the withdrawal, adding that the convoy was being coordinated with Russian posts near Senaki, a nearby town with a major Georgian air base.

Abkhazia is one of two rebel regions of Georgia at the heart of last month's conflict, which is estimated to have killed hundreds of people on both sides and left tens of thousands more displaced in temporary camps.

The conflict also led to a deep chill in Russian-western relations, stoking fears of a renewed Cold War.

The pullback from the posts near Poti and Senaki was promised in a September 8 agreement between Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and French counterpart Nicolas Sarkozy, the current EU chief.

Medvedev agreed to pull Russian forces out from the posts by Monday as part of a wider withdrawal to be completed by mid-October, and he also agreed to the deployment of at least 200 EU observers in Georgia by October 1.

But Russia later insisted it would keep 7,600 troops in Abkhazia and South Ossetia, the other breakaway region, prompting anger in Georgia and charges from the United States that Moscow was in breach of the ceasefire.

On Friday, Medvedev defended Russia's stance by likening a Georgian military assault on South Ossetia that sparked the conflict to the September 11, 2001 attacks on the United States.

"Almost immediately after these events it occurred to me that for Russia, August 8, 2008 was almost like September 11, 2001 in the United States," Medvedev told Western foreign policy experts in Moscow.

Russia responded to the August 8 attack by pouring troops and armour into its southern neighbour, saying it had to defend the thousands of South Ossetians who had been granted Russian citizenship.

In Tbilisi on Friday, Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili faced his most significant political challenge since the conflict as a former ally openly questioned his leadership and said she would set up her own party.

Nino Burjanadze, a former speaker of parliament, called for an independent investigation to ask "tough questions" about Saakashvili's handling of the events leading up to Georgia's conflict with Russia.

"There is a time for tough questions. Of course what happened was a Russian provocation, but we need to know whether it was possible to not yield to this provocation," Burjanadze said at a news conference.

Georgia and the West have sharply criticised Russia's decision last month to recognise Abkhazia and South Ossetia as independent states, a move Tbilisi described as part of a plan to effectively annex the two regions.

But Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov on Friday ruled out any discussion of Moscow's recognition of independence for South Ossetia and Abkhazia - or on their status - at international talks set for October 15 in Geneva.

He also announced he planned to visit Abkhazia on Sunday and South Ossetia on Monday.