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Security Council set to meet again on crisis in South Ossetia, Georgia

9 August 2008 – The Security Council is expected to meet again this afternoon to discuss the crisis engulfing South Ossetia, Georgia, where hundreds of people have been reportedly killed and thousands displaced as Georgian forces fight South Ossetian and Russian forces.

Council members are holding consultations ahead of an expected formal meeting, which would be the third in the past 36 hours, as the clashes continue to escalate in the region.

Yesterday Georgia's Permanent Representative Irakli Alasania told a Council meeting that Russian forces have launched a “full-scale military invasion” of Georgian territory, with tanks and personnel entering the country and jets bombing airfields, military bases and villages.

Mr. Alasania called on Russia to withdraw its forces, to stop the bombing campaign and to negotiate a ceasefire, adding that Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili was willing to take part in dialogue with Moscow.

Russian Ambassador Vitaly Churkin told the meeting that it was Georgia that had carried out “a treacherous attack” on South Ossetia, in violation of a 1996 agreement ending earlier fighting between the Georgian and South Ossetian sides and in spite of Russian calls for negotiations and a ceasefire.

Mr. Churkin said Georgian forces were bombarding towns, including those outside the immediate conflict zones, and had created panic among the civilian population, many of whom were now trying to flee to safety.

In recent days, Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon, the Office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) and the UN Children's Fund (UNICEF) have all called for an end to the fighting and for all sides to take steps to protect civilians and ensure they can receive humanitarian aid.

The UN High Commissioner for Refugees (UNHCR) has reported that thousands of people have already fled South Ossetia for neighbouring North Ossetia-Alania, in Russia, while hundreds of others have fled to other parts of Georgia.