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Russia snubs cease-fire, presses on into Georgia

Russia snubs cease-fire, presses on into Georgia

U.S. suggests ousting Georgian president is Moscow's goal

By TOM LASSETER and JONATHAN S. LANDAY McClatchy-Tribune

Aug. 10, 2008, 23:07PM EDT

GORI, GEORGIA: Russia pressed its invasion of Georgia by land, sea and air for a third day Sunday, striking far beyond contested South Ossetia as the Kremlin brushed aside a cease-fire offer and disputed Georgia's claim to have pulled its forces out of the rebel enclave.

Russian jets bombed near Tbilisi, the Georgian capital, including civilian housing, military bases, factories and the international airport, according to Georgia officials.

Also, Russian warships deployed off the Black Sea coast, sinking a Georgian missile boat that approached them, state-run Russian news media said.

Russian troops and tanks, meanwhile, took control of Tskhinvali, the devastated capital of South Ossetia, according to Russian state-run media, and there were reports that an armored column tried to push out of the separatist enclave's boundary toward the city of Gori before being turned back by Georgian forces.

The military campaign also expanded, with Russian troops entering Abkhazia, another separatist province.

Tensions between the United States and Russia sharpened as the Bush administration suggested that Russia's objective is the ousting of President Mikhail Saakashvili, who has close ties to the United States and is seeking admission to NATO.

President Bush, in an interview with NBC, said, "I've expressed my grave concern about the disproportionate response of Russia and that we strongly condemn the bombing outside of South Ossetia."

Earlier, Vice President Dick Cheney's spokeswoman Lea Ann McBride described Cheney's talk with Georgia's president, in which he said "Russian aggression must not go unanswered, and that its continuation would have serious consequences for its relations with the United States."

Russia repeated that it is obliged to stop "numerous war crimes" against civilians, many of whom carry Russian passports, end a "major humanitarian disaster," and restore the situation to where it was before a Georgian military incursion on Friday...

-- Source/continues: http://www.chron.com/disp/story.mpl/world/5935576.html