Jews Called To Head For Tbilisi, As Hostilities Between Georgia And Russia Escalate

The Jewish Agency has advised some 200 Jews living in Gori near the south Ossetia border to leave immediately for the Georgian capital of Tbilisi as fighting intensified between Russia and Georgia on Saturday.

The Jewish Agency is working in full co-ordination with the Foreign Ministry, which on Saturday advised Israelis to refrain from traveling to Georgia and urged those currently there to contact the Foreign Ministry.

Early Sunday morning, media reports claimed Russia bombed the international airport at Tbilisi in Georgia, a move that is guaranteed to escalate hostilities between the sides.

So far the international arena has failed to bring a halt to the conflict. Fierce battles raged for a second day Saturday in south Ossetia, as Russia dispatched hundreds of troops to the area and threatened to bomb more Gerogian bases.

According to reports out of Moscow over 2000 Russians and Georgians have already been killed in the fighting. Georgia, a staunch US ally, launched a major offensive Friday to retake control of separatist South Ossetia.

Russia, which has close ties to the province and posts peacekeepers there to protect citizens with Russian citizenship, responded by sending in armed convoys.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov told reporters in Moscow that some 1,500 people had been killed, with the death toll rising Saturday. Gerogia called for a ceasefire after Russian bombers expanded their offensive in an attempt to push Georgian troops back.

The United Nations, NATO and the European Union were planning to dispatch officials to the area in an attempt to broker a ceasefire between the sides.

Meanwhile US Prssident George W. Bush declared that the Russian attacks on Georgia marked a dangerous escalation and called on Moscow to immediately cease all hostilities.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev responded swiftly to Bush saying that the only solution to end the crisis was for Georgia to pull its forces out of the region.

Georgian President Mikhail Sakashvilli meanwhile called for an immediate ceasefire declaring that Russia began the conflict by launching a full scale invasion on Georgia.

08/10/08