TBILISI, August 6, 2008 (AFP) - South Ossetian authorities said Wednesday that Georgian forces had opened fire on two villages in the breakaway region to seize control of a strategically important road, but Tbilisi denied the report.

BRUSSELS, August 5, 2008 (AFP) - The French EU presidency on Tuesday expressed 'grave concern' at the upsurge of tension in Georgia's separatist region of South Ossetia.

'We deplore the loss of lives and numerous injuries caused by recent incidents,' the EU presidency, currently held by France, said in a statement.

TBILISI, August 5, 2008 (AFP) - Georgian and South Ossetian officials have agreed to hold direct talks on Thursday for the first time in a decade amid tensions in the mountain province, a Georgian government spokeswoman told AFP.

TBILISI, August 5, 2008 (AFP) - Officials from Georgia and separatist South Ossetia will hold landmark direct talks on August 7, a spokeswoman for Georgian Reintegration Minister Temur Yakobashvili told AFP on Tuesday.

MOSCOW, August 5, 2008 (AFP) - A top Russian diplomat said Tuesday that Moscow would defend Russian citizens in the rebel Georgian region of South Ossetia in the event of a conflict there, the Interfax news agency reported.

TALLINN, August 4, 2008 (AFP) - Estonia said Monday the European Union should deploy peacekeepers to Georgia's separatist regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia, in an international effort to head off conflict there.

'Peacekeeping there would be an appropriate task for the European Union,' Estonian Foreign Minister Urmas Paet said in a statement.

TBILISI, August 4, 2008 (AFP) - Georgia's breakaway region of South Ossetia said Monday it was continuing to evacuate hundreds of children to Russia after the deadliest clashes in the province in years.

Georgia, however, said no large-scale evacuation was taking place and accused the rebels of trying to create 'an illusion of war.'

MOSCOW, August 3, 2008 (AFP) - Georgia's Moscow-backed breakaway region of South Ossetia is close to a 'large-scale' military conflict, Russia said on Sunday, adding that Georgian manoeuvres were undermining peace prospects.

'The threat of large-scale military action between Georgia and South Ossetia is becoming ever more real,' Russia's foreign ministry said.

MOSCOW, August 3, 2008 (AFP) - Georgia's Moscow-backed breakaway region of South Ossetia is close to a 'large-scale' military conflict, Russia said on Sunday, adding that Georgian manoeuvres were undermining hopes of peace.

'The threat of large-scale military action between Georgia and South Ossetia is becoming ever more real,' Russia's foreign ministry said.

MOSCOW, August 2, 2008 (AFP) - Russia on Saturday called on Georgia and South Ossetian separatists to show restraint and seek a resolution to their conflict after overnight violence that the rebels said had left six people dead.

The South Ossetian side announced it was evacuating women, children and the elderly from affected areas in and around the separatist capital Tskhinvali.