Georgia accuses Russia of breaking truce

Tbilisi: Georgia accused Russia of breaking a ceasefire in their six-day-old conflict yesterday and President George W. Bush demanded Moscow act to resolve a crisis that has strained ties with the US.

In the strongest gestures yet of US support for Georgia, Bush said he was sending Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to the former Soviet republic and dispatching military aircraft with humanitarian supplies. "Russia must keep its word and act to end this crisis," the US president said.

Moscow strongly denied truce violations, although Bush voiced concern about reports of continuing Russian military actions in Georgia. In a highly charged atmosphere of claim and counter-claim, Georgian President Mikhail Saak-ashvili said Russian tanks had stormed the Georgian town of Gori and were advancing on the capital, though a deputy minister later backtracked on this.

Moscow said the claims were not true. "No Russian troops or armour are moving towards Tbilisi," Colonel-General Anatoly Nogovitsyn, deputy head of the General Staff said.