Georgia/Russia

Train explodes as Russia pressed to leave

Article published on the 2008-08-24 Latest update 2008-08-24 14:16 TU

A firefighter in front of the fuel train that exploded Sunday
(Photo: Reuters)

A train carrying fuel from Azerbaijan exploded west of the Georgian city of Gori on Sunday. Officials say that it hit a landmine under the railtrack. Russian troops are reported to be still present near Gori itself and to control access to the port of Poti, despite a commitment to leave Georgia under the terms of a French-brokered peace agreement.

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Fire raged across a stretch of about 70 metres and a giant cloud of thick black smoke covered the area near where the blast took place. The site is believed to be a former military base.

Although Russia withdrew tanks, artillery and hundreds of troops from the heart of Georgia on Friday, claiming that it had fulfilled the terms of the peace deal, its soldier still report access to the port of Poti and have established a checkpoint north of Gori.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy telephoned Russia's Dmitry Medvedev on Saturday and asked him to withdraw forces from a key road linking Poti to Senaki in western Georgia.

Sarkozy's office said that the two agreed on the need for an "international mechanism" in the area south of South Ossetia, with the Kremlin agreeing to co-operate with the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) to monitor a buffer zone near the disputed territory.

The Kremlin later denied a French claim that international monitors would replace Russian troops, who have been part of a peacekeeping force there for several years.

France, which currently holds the European Union presidency, has demanded that Russia pull back further, as have the US, Britain and Nato.

Moscow, which maintains control of the disputed areas of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, has accused the US of using humanitarian aid as cover for a build-up of naval forces in the region.

A US Navy destroyer carrying aid dropped anchor off the Georgian port of Batumi on Sunday. Two others are to follow, while Nato carries out naval exercises in the Black Sea.

"For Russia this is something suspicious," French journalist Régis Genté in Tbilisi told RFI. "Some voices in Moscow say that this US Navy warship is not only here to deliver some aid but probably to deliver some arms."