Thousands of Georgians protest Russian forces

In a separate development, a series of explosions rang out over the capital of South Ossetia, Tskhinvali, on Saturday. An AP reporter heard the blasts apparently emanating from a stash of weapons confiscated from Georgian troops. The cache is situated next to Tskhinvali’s main hospital.

It remained unclear if arms were being deliberately destroyed. No casualties were reported.

Farther north of Tskhinvali, near the South Ossetian-Russian border, another AP reporter saw a convoy of about 150 Russian APCs, trucks and tanks by the roadside.

Russia’s pullback on Friday came two weeks to the day after thousands of Russian soldiers roared into the former Soviet republic following an assault by Georgian forces on separatist South Ossetia. The fighting left hundreds dead and nearly 160,000 people homeless.

It also has deeply strained relations between Moscow and the West. Russia has frozen its military cooperation with NATO, Moscow’s Cold War foe, underscoring a growing division in Europe.

President Bush, vacationing at his ranch in Texas, conferred with French President Nicolas Sarkozy and “the two agreed that Russia is not in compliance and that Russia needs to come into compliance now,” said White House spokesman Gordon Johndroe on Friday.

“They have not completely withdrawn from areas considered undisputed territory, and they need to do that,” Johndroe said.

The diplomatic struggle is certain to continue. The Russian parliament was expected to discuss recognizing the independence of the separatist regions South Ossetia and Abkhazia on Monday.

In an interview with the AP, South Ossetian leader Eduard Kokoity indicated that ethnic Georgians will not be allowed to return to their homes in South Ossetia.

“There is nothing left anymore” for them to come back to, he said.

There has been extensive looting and burning of Georgian homes in South Ossetia. In the village of Achabeti, an AP reporter saw Ossetians remove chairs, window frames and whatever else they could carry from abandoned Georgian houses.

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