TBILISI, Oct 8, 2008 (AFP) - Russian forces withdrew completely Wednesday from a buffer zone around Georgia's rebel region of Abkhazia, and were doing the same around South Ossetia, Georgian and Russian officials said.

The posts in Abkhazia were dismantled and 'all Russian soldiers have left' the buffer zone, Georgian interior ministry spokesman Shota Utiashvili told AFP.

Separately, a Russian official told Interfax news agency: 'The personnel from five posts are already in South Ossetia, the last convoy with peacekeepers from the six observation posts are on their way' to the region's main city.