Investigating group of publish report on Aug 2008 South Ossetia

BRUSSELS, September 30 (Itar-Tass) -- International group
investigating the August 2008 armed conflict in and around South Ossetia
is expected to publish a report on its findings here Wednesday.

The group's chairperson, Swiss career diplomat Heidi Tagliavini will
hand the finalized version of the report to representatives of Russia,
Georgia, the EU, the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe,
and the UN.
The text will be handed to them behind closed doors at the
headquarters of the EU Council. Officials have promised the latter
organizaion will then upload it in the Internet.
It was not exactly known at the time of reporting when this uploading
might take place. Different contacts indicated the times varying from
11:00 hours to 15:00 hours GMT.
A diplomatic source told Itar-Tass, however, the governments will be
given some extra time to formulate their reactions to the report before it
gets to the public at large.
The diplomat said along with this the EU hopes to ensure maximum
possible transparency around the document.
Although the main contents of the report are still kept confidential,
information leaks indicate that the international investigators apportion
blame for unleashing the conflict to Georgia.
In addition, they cite the documents overturning the Georgian
government's claims that it had to start the artillery shelling of the
sleaping South Ossetian capital Tskhinval in response to the introduction
of Russian tanks into the region.
The experts confirm that the desire to regain control over the
'separatist region' through the use of force was the genuine cause of the
conflict and that Russia moved its troops to South Ossetia only after the
outbreak of the Georgian attack.
Along with this, the experts accuse Russia of an excessive use of
force and escalation of the conflict by spreading it to Georgia's
territory outside South Ossetia.
On the whole, international observers believe the publication of the
finalized report may deal a telling blow to Georgia's image as a country
that seeks to prophile itself as a young democracy.
EU Council has decided to call off any meetings with newsmen on its
own premises, as it "occupies a neutral position" on this case, but the
Russian and Georgian missions to the EU have made known their plans to
hold news conferences outside the headquarters.
The report will not come as a surprise for anyone, Russia's ambassador
to the EU, Vladimir Chizhov believes.
"Decision-makers in the European capitals have a clear enough picture
today of what happened last August," he said, adding that he holds Heidi
Tagiliavini's professional qualities in high respect.
"We don't need a pro-Russian report, we hope for an unbiased account
because we know only too well what happened there," Chizhov said. "The
report is due to determine the real responsibility of the regime led by
/Georgian President/ Saakashvili."

.Moldova to press for deployment of int'l forces in Dniester region.

UNITED NATIONS, September 20 (Itar-Tass) - Moldova's new
Administration will press forward with a demand to remove foreign troops
from its territory and to replace of the current peacekeeping operation in
the much-troubled independence-seeking Dniester region with international
forces having an appropriate mandate, Moldova's ambassador to the UN said
Tuesday.
The ambassador, Alexadru Cujba, who spoke on the last day of general
political discussions in the course of the UN General Assembly's 64th
session, called for a mounting of the UN role in the prevention and
resolution of crises and in the defense of human rights in 'separatist
regions'.
The Dniester region, commonly known in the West as Transdniestria, is
a narrow enough strip of territory of the former Moldovan Soviet Socialist
Republic located along the eastern - and, in small parts, western - bank
of the River Dniester.
It has a largely Slavic population and it has been seeking
independence from the very beginning of the 1990's when Moldova declared
itself independent from the USSR and nationalistically minded forces came
to power in Chisinau.
The conflict between Moldova's central government and the
self-proclaimed Dniester Republic took the form of a bloody war in 1992,
when thousands of people were killed or severely wounded.
The UN News Center quoted Ambassador Cujba as saying hope for a
peaceful solution to the separatist conflict in the Transdniestrian region
"lies in its demilitarization and democratization."
The new Liberal/Democratic ruling coalition that came to power in
Chisinau after the July parliamentary election and that includes parties
advocating Moldova's unification with the ethnically related Romania will
redouble efforts towards "achieving integration of the country in all
socio-economic segments by encouraging wide participation of the
non-governmental sector," Cujba said.
He indicated, in part, that the coalition will press for an increased
role for the U.S. and the European Union in the so-called Five Plus Two
format of negotiations that embraces Russia, Moldova, the Dniester region,
Ukraine, and the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe
/OSCE/ as the main negotiating parties, while allotting the status of
observers to the Americans and the Europeans.
Peace in stability in the zone of the former Moldova-Dniester conflict
is maintained by the Joint Peacekeeping force that consists of the
contingents provided by Russia /335 servicemen/, Moldova /453 servicemen/
and the Dniester Republic /490 servicemen/
The peacekeeping force also includes ten military observers from
Ukraine.
Since the start of the peacekeeping effort in 1992, not a single
outbreak of inter-ethnic violence has been registered in the Dniester
region.
-0-kle