Ceasefire in Caucasus

Fears of war in the Caucasus have eased after a ceasefire ended days of violence.

Up to ten Georgian peacekeepers and civilians were killed in clashes with separatists in South Ossetia on Thursday, the Georgian interior ministry said.

But the two sides have stopped fighting and have agreed to meet for talks.

The breakaway regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia are backed by Russia but ex-Soviet Georgia has allied itself with the West and is pushing for membership of NATO.

Moscow said the separatists had agreed to talk with Georgian leaders at the Russian peacekeeping base in the regional capital Tskhinvali on Friday.

The news came Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili offered the separatists an immediate ceasefire and repeated an offer of full autonomy for region with Russia as guarantor.

Saakashvili said in a televised address: "It was a painful decision, but we have suffered casaulties and villagers' homes have been damaged."

The fighting began at the weekend, when six people were killed. On Thursday, the official separatist website www.cominf.org said Georgians were shelling the village of Khetagurovo from Avnevi.

A Georgian armoured personnel carrier was later destroyed in fighting around the village.

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