Georgia accuses Russia of bombing raid

TSITELUBANI, Georgia (AFP) - Georgia yesterday accused Russia of mounting an air raid near the breakaway region of South Ossetia in a sharp escalation of tensions between the tiny pro-Western state and its giant neighbour.

Moscow has denied involvement and suggested that Georgia staged the raid to sabotage peace talks with South Ossetian rebels.

Georgian officials said at least one rocket was fired at their territory late Monday, striking near a village on the edge of the South Ossetian conflict zone, where Georgia faces pro-Russian rebels. The rocket failed to explode and no one was injured, officials said.

President Mikheil Saakashvili said Russia wanted to stir "panic to weaken the stability of Georgia and to change the country's policies."

According to a Georgian interior ministry official, Shota Utiashvili, "one rocket that was fired has been found so far. Possibly more will be found."

Russian television showed a small, deep crater in a field near the village of Tsitelubani, about 50 kilometres (30 miles) from the Georgian capital Tbilisi. Pieces of a rocket were scattered around, some inscribed with Russian Cyrillic lettering, but the device did not appear to have exploded.