Switzerland calls for end to South Ossetia violence

2008-08-08 21:49:44 GMT2008-08-09 05:49:44 (Beijing Time) Xinhua English

GENEVA, Aug. 8 (Xinhua) -- The Swiss government on Friday urged both sides in the conflict over Georgia's breakaway region of South Ossetia to stop their attacks and seek a negotiated solution.

In a statement, the Swiss Foreign Ministry said it was concerned about civilian casualties in the South Ossetia region, the official Swissinfo news website reported.

The Foreign Ministry added that all 29 Swiss expatriates in Georgia were safe and none of them were in South Ossetia, a region bordering southern Russia.

There are also four Swiss military observers and two police experts stationed in Georgia as members of the United Nations mission to the country's other renegade region, Abkhazia.

Fighting broke out between Georgian forces and militants of South Ossetia on Thursday, breaking a cease-fire just hours after the two sides had agreed to talks.

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