Byline: Matthew Russell Lee of Inner City Press at UN
www.innercitypress.com/ga3russia101608.html
UNITED NATIONS, October 16 -- Russia and Georgia, which fought a war in August and pointedly did not meet each other at yesterday's planned meeting in Geneva, re-opened their war of words on Thursday night at the UN. At the end of a routine meeting of the General Assembly's Third Committee, on the protection of children, Russia's representative took five minutes to decry "the crimes of Georgia" in bombing South Ossetia on August 8 "with the assistance of foreigners." The allegation was made that Georgia's other breakaway region, Abkhazia, was slated to face the same fate, which Russia called "genocide."
Georgia, given its right of reply, said that the allegations were false and "we ask for an investigation." The chairman then gave the floor back to the Russian representative, who read into the record stories about particular South Ossetian victims. A car was hit by Georgia tanks, it was recounted, and a mother was "catapulted out." A 14-year old was killed by snipers. An elder spent three nights in a cellar surrounded by dead bodies. "They used knives on a pregnant woman, saying 'this child will fight against us.' Both died."
The Russian representative concluded that there was more to say, but not in "this lofty sphere." The chairman, seeming miffed, gaveled the meeting to a close. Afterwards, the Georgian representative who had spoken in the session emphasized to Inner City Press that the Russian had not responded to her call for an investigation.
Her colleague from the Georgian mission added that Russia could say that anyone had been killed, even Inner City Press -- "but they have to prove it."
And see, www.innercitypress.com/ga3russia101608.html
