Mauritanian Coup Leaders Assume Presidential Powers

The military leaders that overthrew Mauritania's first democratically elected government have adopted a law giving themselves presidential powers.

The law announced Tuesday formalizes the governing powers of the military's 11-member "High State Council."

Mauritania's junta leader Gen. Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz waves to the crowdsin Nouakchott before addressing his first speech, 07 Aug 2008

Coup leader Mohamed Ould Abdel Aziz overthrew President Sidi Ould Cheikh Abdallahi on August 6, shortly after the president announced the dismissal of top army officers.

Abdel Aziz has said the military takeover was necessary because the president mismanaged the economy and democratic institutions, and was lenient with terrorists.

The president, his prime minister and three other senior officials were detained. All but the president were released Monday.

Speaking to thousands of supporters after his release, deposed prime minister Yahya Ould Ahmed Waghef vowed to restore the country's constitution.

The coup leaders have promised to hold new elections as soon as possible, but have not given a date.

The French and U.S. governments have suspended millions of dollars in aid to the West African country until democracy is restored. The African Union also has suspended Mauritania's membership.

Russian President Orders End to Military Operations Against Georgia

Russian President Dmitri Medvedev

Russian President Dmitri Medvedev says he has ordered an end to military action in Georgia.

Mr. Medvedev announced the move Tuesday, as French President Nicolas Sarkozy arrived in Moscow to push Western demands for a cease-fire.

The reported truce would halt five days of intense Russian air and land attacks that took Russian forces deep into Georgia, in response to a Georgian assault on separatists in its pro-Russian breakaway region of South Ossetia. More than 2,000 people have been reported killed, and analysts say the toll will rise.

In the Georgian capital, President Mikhail Saakashvili said Russian warplanes were continuing attacks on Georgian targets, despite the Russian cease-fire announcement. He also told a huge rally that his country is under foreign occupation, and that it will pull out of the Commonwealth of Independent States - a grouping of ex-Soviet countries.

Mr. Medvedev said Georgia had, in his words, been punished enough for the South Ossetian attacks. Speaking on national television, he said the security of Russian peacekeepers and Russian-speaking civilians in the breakaway regions had been restored. He said Georgia has suffered "very significant losses."

A man stands in front of a damaged apartment building Gori, Georgia, 11 Aug 2008

Hours before the reported cease-fire, journalists reported Russian warplanes bombing the strategic Georgian town of Gori. The town is 75 kilometers west of Georgia's capital, Tbilisi, and is the birthplace of former Soviet dictator Josef Stalin.

In Georgia's republic of Abkhazia, witnesses said a huge Russian military column was moving toward the Kodori Gorge - the only area of Abkhazia remaining under the control of Georgia's central government.

South Ossetia and Abkhazia declared independence from Georgia in the early 1990s.

Georgia says 150 people have been killed in the fighting. Russia says the death toll is at least 1,500. There are no independently confirmed casualty figures.

South Ossetia and Abkhazia declared independence from Georgia in the early 1990s. But Tbilisi says it remains determined to reassert control in both regions.

Some information for this report was provided by AFP and Reuters.

Conflict in Georgia

Fighting between Russian and Georgian troops spread to western parts of Georgia Monday as international efforts to halt the clashes appeared to be picking up momentum. In this report from Washington, VOA Senior Correspondent André de Nesnera looks at what prompted the conflict in a very volatile region of the world.

Georgian refugees fleeing Gori, 11 Aug 2008

Analysts agree the current conflict between Georgia and Russia was sparked by Tbilisi last week when it sent troops in an effort to take control of Tskhinvali, the capital of Georgia's breakaway region of South Ossetia. Russia, which had troops based in the breakaway region, responded to the attack by sending additional troops, tanks and armored personnel carriers in the region and going on the offensive.

South Ossetia, along with another Georgian region - Abkhazia - declared independence from Georgia in the mid 1990s. Georgia's president Mikhail Saakashvili has vowed to bring both regions back into the fold.

Tensions have been rising in the area for months, as Russia increased its economic, commercial and political ties with the two breakaway regions. A series of military moves by both Georgia and Russia in the area helped increase tensions even further.

Russian soldiers somewhere in South Ossetia, 11 Aug 2008

Many experts are at loss to explain why President Saakashvili decided to send troops into South Ossetia at this time. But many analysts, including Marshall Goldman from Harvard University, say that move was a serious miscalculation.

"He certainly picked the wrong time to move this way," said Marshall Goldman. "He was upset because the Russians were violating Georgian airspace. I think he thought maybe this was the best time to move. He certainly provoked the Russians. I think the Russians were really looking for an excuse - and he provided it to them."

Western leaders, including U.S. President George Bush say the Russian response has been disproportionate.

Robert Legvold from Columbia University says Moscow's strong military response goes far beyond its initial reason of defending its own citizens in the region.

"No longer is it merely to restore peace and stability in South Ossetia," said Robert Legvold. "I think it is to destroy Georgian influence in South Ossetia and indeed for the most part in Abkhazia itself - and prepare the way, if the Russians chose to go in that direction - for annexing South Ossetia itself. And in the case of Abkhazia, recognize the independence of Abkhazia and then work out a different relationship with it."

France's Foreign Minister Bernard Kouchner, along with his Finnish counterpart Alexander Stubb and Georgia's President Mikhail Saakashvili visiting the Georgian city of Gori, 11 Aug 2008

Analysts say the international community's response to the conflict in Georgia has been lukewarm. Once again, Marshall Goldman.

"The Europeans have been basically neutralized," he said. "In part, because they've become very dependent on Russian oil and gas, particularly gas. For example, in the case of Germany, [Russia] provides 42 percent of Germany's natural gas. So the Germans, who were probably expected to take the leading role here, have been neutralized."

Experts say the United States - a strong supporter of President Saakashvili - has also been unable to persuade both sides to end the conflict.

Robert Legvold says it could turn out to be a foreign policy debacle for the United States as it will not help Georgia militarily and is unable to restrain Moscow.

A woman in Gori, Georgia cries, after finding out that her child was killed, 11 Auf 2008

"The Georgians are blaming the United States and the Russians are blaming the United States," he said. "The Georgians are blaming the U.S. for letting them down, betraying them, stab in the back - all of that. And the Russians are accusing the United States, as they have for some time, of having given license to what they regard as a hot-headed Georgian leader.'

Legvold and others believe the international community must work to secure a cease-fire before the conflict in the region gets completely out of hand.