Bush sends Rice to Paris on Georgia crisis

By JERUSALEM POST STAFF
President George W. Bush expressed worry Wednesday that Russia might be violating the cease-fire in Georgia. He said the United States expected all Russian forces to be withdrawn from Georgia and that Moscow honor the truce after its punishing attacks against the country. Bush said he was sending Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice to France, to meet President Nicolas Sarkozy, the current head of the European Union. Rice will then travel to Georgia to express solidarity with the elected government there. Bush spoke in the White House Rose Garden after meeting with his national security team over the crisis in Georgia. He said he strongly supported France's efforts to broker an end to the fighting. Bush said that Russia must allow the United States and other countries to deliver humanitarian assistance in Georgia.