Temur Iakobashvili Met with Senator Richard Lugar

Temur Iakobashvili, the State Minister of Georgia for Reintegration issues, is holding a meeting with Richard Lugar, the chairman of the Committee of Foreign Affairs of US Senate at the moment.

The meeting is closed. The sides are discussing the situation existing in the country.

The Senator has already met the representatives of the Parliament of Georgia and of NGO. The meeting with Lado Gurgenidze, the Prime-Minister of Georgia is scheduled today as well.

Financial Times – As crazy as it sounds the oligarchs could save Russia

“As crazy as it sounds, the oligarchs could save Russia”, – is the headline of the article published by Financial Times.

According to article the current events in Georgia brought to light the real leader of Russia and its insidious aims.

“Mr Putin’s neo-authoritarian regime – and it is clearly his state and his fight, no matter that we now call him “prime minister” – is a country with which, as the Nato summit concluded, we cannot continue “business as usual” , – article reads.

Timeline

24 AUGUST

12:50 Forest is on fire in the surroundings of village Gldani on the outskirts of Tbilisi.

11:30 Georgian police release AP journalists detained by Russian soldiers
• An AP TV crew operating near Poti was arrested this morning by the Russian army because they did not have Russian media accreditation. They were taken to the Georgian police station in Poti and released there.

11:00 US Navy destroyer McFaul enters Batumi port.

Georgia official: Train on fire after hitting mine

TBILISI, Georgia – A train carrying oil products hit a landmine on Sunday, causing at least two tanker cars to burst into flames and send thick clouds of black smoke skyward, a Georgian official said.

There are no immediate reports of casualties in the blast near the central city of Gori.

Georgian Interior Ministry spokesman Shota Utiashvili blamed Russia for the blast. Russia has pulled most its troops out of Georgia after days of fighting but maintains significant positions in the ex-Soviet republic.

Utiashvili said the train may have been carrrying petroleum products from Azerbaijan toward a Georgian Black Sea port. He said two tanker cars were burning, but a television report said 10 of the cars were in flames.

Georgian television said two nearby houses were damaged and windows were blown out.

US warship reaches Georgian port

A US warship has arrived in the Georgian port of Batumi carrying the first delivery of aid supplies by sea.

Russian forces are still in control of the military port of Poti, to the north of Batumi, after withdrawing most of its combat troops from the country.

French President Nicolas Sarkozy, who brokered the ceasefire, has urged Moscow to pull out those forces too.