BRUSSELS, August 8, 2008 (AFP) - NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer on Friday called for an end to the fighting in the breakaway Georgian province of South Ossetia and urged all parties involved to open direct talks.

The NATO chief is seriously concerned about the events that are taking place in the Georgian region of South Ossetia and said that the Alliance is closely following the situation,' a spokesman for the the North Atlantic Treaty Organisation said.

'The Secretary General calls on all sides for an immediate end of the armed clashes and direct talks between the parties,' he added.

Georgian forces surrounded and shelled the capital of the breakaway province of South Ossetia after a major offensive which brought Russian warnings of retaliation.