Georgia presses self-defense claim

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
Georgia is pressing its claim that it acted in self-defense last month when it launched military action targeting separatist South Ossetia. The government has released what it says are recordings of intercepted mobile-phone calls between South Ossetian border guards. It says they show that Russian tanks and troops entered South Ossetia 20 hours before the Georgian offensive began late August 7. An Interior Ministry official on Tuesday played what he said were the recordings for AP Television News and provided English translations from the original Ossetian. Russia says it sent forces into South Ossetia only after Georgia's attack and was defending Russian citizens and peacekeepers there.