Russian soldiers near Gori, smoke rising

(14 Aug 2008) SHOTLIST
1. Wide of plume of smoke rising above forest
2. Wide of Russian tank on road
3. Wide of plume of smoke rising above forest
4. Tilt down from statue of Stalin on central square to crater left by shell
5. Georgian police cars in town centre
6. Mid of police in car
7. Wide of Russian general speaking to local Georgian police officer
8. SOUNDBITE: (Russian) local resident, no name given:
"I am not afraid because they will defend us and as for the rest it is not our concern."
9. Wide of local residents
10. Wide of Georgian Interior Minister Vano Merabishvili and bodyguards at Georgian checkpoint near Gori
11. SOUNDBITE: (English) Vano Merabishvili, Georgian Interior Minister:
"We are cleaning roads because with have information that there are some mines and our engineers and our special forces are controlling this place."
12. Wide of Russian soldiers (in front) and Georgian policeman checking car (in background)
13. Tilt up of Russian soldier
14. Tracking shot of legless man
15. Wide of legless man being given cigarette by Russian soldiers
16. Various of Russian military vehicles in town centre
17. Russian soldiers in grass
18. Various of Russian tanks
19. Various of Russian soldiers in tanks
STORYLINE:
Russian troops and Georgian troops briefly patrolled the embattled city of Gori on Thursday, before relations between the two sides broke down and the Georgians left.
Explosions were also heard near as the Russian troop withdrawal from the strategic city seemed to collapse.
AP Television pictures showed plumes of black smoke rising from behind a forest.
It could not immediately determined if the blasts were renewed fighting between Georgian and Russian forces.
They sounded similar to mortar shells and occurred not long after a tense confrontation between Russian and Georgian troops on the edge of the city on Thursday.
The fragile cease-fire appeared to suffer a further blow when Russia's foreign minister declared that the world "can forget about any talk about Georgia's territorial integrity."
The declaration from Russian Foreign Minister Sergey Lavrov came simultaneously with the announcement that Russian President Dmitry Medvedev was meeting in the Kremlin with the leaders of Georgia's two separatist provinces.
Georgian officials who had gone into the city for the possible handover left unexpectedly around midday local time, followed by the checkpoint confrontation that ended when Russian tanks hurried to the scene and the Georgians backed off.
AP Television showed pictures of Russian troops both inside and outside the city.
Before the Georgian officials left, Georgian Interior minister Vano Merabishvili and some of his bodyguards were seen at a Georgian checkpoint on the outskirts of Gori.
"We are cleaning roads because with have information that there are some mines and our engineers and our special forces are controlling this place," said Merabishvili.
The strategically located city is 15 miles south of South Ossetia, the separatist region where Russian and Georgian forces fought a brutal five-day battle.
Russian troops entered Gori on Wednesday, after the two sides signed the cease-fire that called for their forces to pull back to the positions they held before the fighting started.
Georgia early on Thursday said the Russians were leaving the city, but later alleged they were bringing in additional troops.

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