Georgia leader signs ceasefire deal

Georgia leader signs ceasefire deal

Mikheil Saakashvili, Georgia's president, has said that he has signed a ceasefire agreement with Russia.Speaking at a news conference in Tbilisi on Friday, Saakashvili criticised the West for not granting Georgia Nato membership earlier this year.He also accused Russia of using cluster bombs and weapons of mass destruction during fighting which broke out last week in the breakaway region of South Ossetia.

The president's remarks came after nearly five hours of talks with Condoleezza Rice,  the US secretary of state, regarding the EU-brokered ceasefire agreement.The six-point deal was drawn up by France, and presented by Rice to Saakashvili.The Georgian president said: "We will never, ever surrender, give up our freedom and territory, we will definitely get rid of these invaders for good. I am totally convinced of that."Rice, also speaking at the news conference, said Russian forces should now leave Georgian territory.She said Russia's president had "not honoured" his promise to halt military operations in Georgia."The verbal assurance that President Medvedev gave that Russian military operations had stopped ... clearly was not honoured."With the signing of this accord, all Russian troops, and any paramilitary and irregular troops that entered with them must leave immediately," Rice said.

Cluster bombs

Marc Garlasco, from the New York-based Human Rights Watch organisation, told Al Jazeera that both Russia and Georgia were using indiscriminate weapons in the conflict, including cluster bombs.Speaking in Tbilisi, Garlasco said: "We've been very concerned that both sides have not been following the Geneva Conventions, and supporting international humanitarian law here."It's quite shocking that in the year that 107 countries have agreed to ban cluster bombs, that the Russians are using them in this conflict now."Clearly we need to have some international body come here and do some credible investigation."Just to look at statements of casualties – the Russians are claiming 2,000 dead in South Ossetia - our investigation has shown 44 at this point. So we really need to have someone discern what the truth is."