Eduard Kokoity, the leader of South Ossetia, attends a rally in Tskhinvali, the capital of the breakaway regionLooting, Fires Rage In South Ossetia: Rights Groups -- Reuters
MOSCOW (Reuters) - Neither South Ossetia's local government nor the Russian army are providing adequate security for citizens in the breakaway territory after last month's Russia-Georgia war, rights groups said on Thursday.
Representatives of U.S.-based Human Rights Watch and Russian group Memorial were reporting on a trip to the province, which until the conflict was a patchwork of South Ossetian and ethnic Georgian villages.
"South Ossetian authorities are not ensuring the defence of property of residents of Georgian enclave villages or the safety of people remaining there," said Alexander Cherkasov of Memorial.
"Currently the (ethnic) Georgian villages we visited...are practically burnt to the ground. Now, a month after military operations, the final houses are being torched, and every day we saw new fires."
Georgia and Russia went to war on August 7-8 after Tbilisi ordered artillery strikes on the South Ossetian capital Tskhinvali in a bid to recapture the rebel, pro-Russian region.
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More News On The Disintegration Of South Ossetia
Kremlin slaps down South Ossetia over claim it will join Russia -- Times Online
Analysis: Russia will accept South Ossetia - but quietly -- Times Online
South Ossetia sends mixed signals to Russia -- International Herald Tribune
South Ossetian leader denies plans to become part of Russia -- China View
Moscow rejects S Ossetia pledge to join Russia -- Financial Times
My Comment: Russia (with the passage of time) will probably regret its involvement in the Cacausus. There are too many ethnic blood rivalries that goes back centuries, that to maintain the peace will involve the stationing of numerous troops and the injection of aid for a very very long time.
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