U.S. not involved in conflict in Georgia

2008-08-08 15:09:17 GMT2008-08-08 23:09:17 (Beijing Time) Xinhua English

WASHINGTON, Aug. 8 (Xinhua) -- The United States said on Friday that its military trainers in Georgia are not involved in the escalating conflicts between Russian and Georgian forces in breakaway South Ossetia.

"They are not involved in any way in this conflict between the Russian military and the Georgian military," local mass media quoted Lieutenant Colonel John Dorrian, a spokesman for the U.S. European Command, was quoted as saying.

More than 100 American military personnel are Georgia doing training job, according to Dorrian.

The conflict between Georgia and its rebel region South Ossetia worsened on Aug. 1-2, when South Ossetian authorities accused Georgian forces of shelling Tskhinvali. Six people dead and 15 injured in the shelling.

South Ossetia, along with another breakaway republic Abkhazia, broke away from Georgia in the 1990s following the collapse of the Soviet Union. But their self-proclaimed independence has not been internationally recognized.

The United States pledged to support the territorial integrity and sovereignty of Georgia, stressing "no state should be taking actions that would violate that."

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