UNITED NATIONS, August 10, 2008 (AFP) - UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon late Saturday called for an immediate end of hostilities in Georgia and a negotiated settlement of the conflict.

'The secretary-general urges all parties to immediately end hostilities and to engage, without delay, in negotiations to achieve a peaceful settlement,' said a statement issued by Ban's office.

'The secretary-general believes that for the success of this endeavour, all armed contingents which are not authorized by respective agreements on South Ossetia should leave the zone of conflict,' the statement continued.

Russia sent its tanks and troops to pro-Moscow South Ossetia Friday in response to pro-Western Georgia's military offensive to take back the province, which broke away in the early 1990s after a separatist war.

Georgian and Russian forces exchanged artillery fire overnight, South Ossetia officials said, while Russian planes bombed the runway of a military airfield near Tbilisi international airport according to a Georgian official.

Russian naval vessels also arrived at the port of Ochamchira in another breakaway Georgian region, Abkhazia.

Ban said he was 'profoundly concerned' over mounting tensions in the Abkhaz zone of conflict, including the bombing of the Upper Kodori Valley and the ongoing military build-up along the security zone.

He urged all parties to exercise 'maximum restraint' as well as to guarantee the safety and security of UN military observers.

'The secretary-general strongly believes that a lasting solution can only be found by peaceful means,' the statement said.