Irish Foreign Minister Micheal Martin is making a two-day visit to Georgia to assess the humanitarian and security situation after the brief war with Russia in August, his office said Wednesday.

Martin, who was to leave for Tbilisi Wednesday evening, will have talks with the country`s political leaders and visit a camp for people displaced by the war outside the capital.

`I intend going on patrol near South Ossetia with the four Irish monitors who volunteered as part of the European Union Monitoring Mission,` he said, adding that Dublin will provide staff to the mission next year as well.

`I urge all parties to the conflict to participate fully in the talks process that is continuing in Geneva under the chairmanship of the EU Special Representative for the Crisis in Georgia, Pierre Morel,` Martin said.

While in Tbilisi, Martin will open a Centre for European Studies, established in association with the University of Limerick in south-west Ireland and funded by Irish Aid.

He will also meet the Irish community and pay a visit to the First Step Foundation for disabled children, which is also funded by Irish Aid, voluntary donations and by the Georgian government.

Russian troops and tanks rolled into Georgia on August 8 to push back a Georgian offensive to retake the rebel region of South Ossetia.

Russia has since withdrawn from most of Georgia in line with an EU-brokered ceasefire but Tbilisi is furious at the continued presence of 7,600 Russian troops in South Ossetia and another rebel region Abkhazia.

The independence of both regions has been recognised by Moscow but Tbilisi insists they are still part of Georgian sovereign territory.