Free Republic

Wednesday August 25, 2004 War between Russia and Georgia 'very close' 25.08.2004 War between Russia and Georgia is close, Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili warned in a newspaper interview published in Paris. "We are very close to a war [with Russia], the population must be prepared," he told the Liberation daily. Georgia pulled troops back from the separatist pro-Moscow region of South Ossetia last week after an unprecedented show of force that infuriated Russia and worried Washington. South Ossetia falls within Georgian borders but is inhabited mainly by ethnic Ossetians. The province has demanded independence or rule from Moscow.