Georgia Announces Pullback from South Ossetia

A senior Georgian official says Georgian troops battling Russian forces in the breakaway territory of South Ossetia have fully withdrawn from the area, as Russia demanded. Georgian Security Council chief Alexander Lomaia told reporters Sunday that Georgian troops have re-positioned outside of South Ossetia.

Russia has demanded that Georgia pull its troops from the territory as a condition for negotiating a ceasefire.

Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Grigory Karasin told reporters today that Moscow now needs to verify the withdrawal claim.

Russia has sent some 10,000 troops into Georgia to prevent Tbilisi from reasserting control over South Ossetia and its largely pro-Russian population.

Russian warships are also reported blockading Georgia's Black Sea coast to prevent supplies and munitions from reaching Georgian forces by sea.

The head of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe, Finnish Foreign Minister Alexander Stubb, is expected in Tbilisi today for talks with Georgian officials.

Stubb and French Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner are then set to visit Moscow in a push to broker an immediate ceasefire.

Meanwhile, separatist authorities in a second Georgian separatist territory, Abkhazia, say they have begun mobilizing reservists to reinforce positions in the rebel-held Kodori Gorge.

Russia's Prime Minister Vladimir Putin said Saturday that Georgia has committed genocide against its own people, and therefore has lost the right to rule South Ossetia.

U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has urged all parties to immediately end hostilities and engage in negotiations. Mr. Ban says he welcomes international efforts to resolve the matter.

Fighting in the region began Friday when Georgia launched an offensive to regain control of South Ossetia from separatists. Russia responded by sending in troops and tanks.

Georgian Foreign Minister Eka Tkeshelashvili says the conflict has claimed 150 lives. However, Russia says at least 1,500 people have died.

South Ossetia and Abkhazia declared independence from Georgia in the early 1990s. Both are both seeking internationally recognized independence. But Tbilisi is determined to reassert control in those regions.