Russia signs ceasefire deal, says extra security needed to withdraw

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev signed the French-brokered deal a day after Georgia's pro-Western President Mikheil Saakashvili and a week after clashes erupted between Georgia and Russia.

"President Medvedev informed members of the security council of the Russian Federation that he had signed the document on principles" for resolving the conflict, Kremlin spokeswoman Natalya Timakova was quoted as saying by news agencies.

But Medvedev also ordered "extra security measures" in the conflict zone. Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said the withdrawal of Moscow's forces would depend on those measures, but did not elaborate the details.

The agreement drafted this week authorizes Russian forces to proceed with "additional security measures on a temporary basis" while awaiting the arrival of international peacekeepers -- which requires passage of a U.N. Security Council resolution.

The agreement calls for both Russian and Georgian forces to pull back to positions they held before fighting erupted Aug. 8.

The United States demanded on Friday that Russia pull out of Georgia immediately, accusing Moscow of "bullying" its tiny southern neighbour by sending in troops and tanks.

Clashes erupted between Georgia and Russia, when Tbilisi launched an assault to retake its separatist province of South Ossetia, prompting a huge counter-offensive from Moscow, which supports the rebels. Violence on the ground continued, news agencies reported.

Georgia accused Russian troops of blowing up a railway bridge on Saturday in broad daylight, saying the country's main east-west train link had been severed.

Russia's General Staff denied attacking the bridge, declaring that hostilities that flared nine days ago around South Ossetia were, as far as it was concerned, over.

Russian Colonel-General Nogovitsyn said Georgian snipers were still shooting in South Ossetia and that Russian forces had engaged a "Georgian sabotage group" near the Roki tunnel, the main crossing point for Russian troops into Georgia.

Russian troops remained in control of the main checkpoint into Gori , 60 kilometres northwest of Tbilisi. They blocked journalists from entering the town, which is outside South Ossetia and was formerly a base for Georgian forces, AFP reported.

AP said Russian forces pulled back Saturday from positions in a town not far from Georgia's capital after the Russian president signed a cease-fire deal.

Tanks and troops were still dug in on a hillside on the edge of Igoeti, some 30 miles from the Georgian capital of Tbilisi, and there was no immediate sign of a pullout from the strategic city of Gori, about 20 miles up the road.

U.S. SEES PROGRESS

The U.S. said there was progress in resolving the Georgia crisis. President George W. Bush, after meeting with his national security team, said on Saturday the fact that Russia and Georgia have signed a ceasefire pact was "a hopeful step."

But he added Russia now needed to honor the agreement and withdraw its forces. He said the regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia are a part of Georgia and "there's no room for debate on this matter."

During her visit to Tbilisi for talks with Saakashvili on Friday, US Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice insisted the peace accord required Russian forces withdraw from Georgia, a close U.S. ally.

"With the signing of this accord, all Russian troops, and any paramilitary and irregular troops that entered with them, must leave immediately," Rice said.

She said that Medvedev's previous "verbal assurance" to halt military operations "clearly was not honoured."

Lavrov earlier promised Rice by telephone that Russia would "faithfully" implement the ceasefire accord, a US official said.