ID :
15779
Wed, 08/13/2008 - 18:13
Auther :
Shortlink :
http://m.oananews.org//node/15779
The shortlink copeid
Govt set to announce Georgia aid package
Australia is expected to announce details of an aid package for war-torn Georgia within 24 hours. But while Canberra will provide humanitarian assistance, it has refused to provide military resources to the former Soviet state.
Russian troops and tanks poured into Georgia on Friday after the Georgian army launched an offensive to regain control of South Ossetia, the Moscow-backed region which broke away from Tbilisi in the early 1990s.
The United Nations estimates 100,000 people have been forced from their homes, and up to 2,000 people are believed to have been killed.
The world is waiting to see what will happen with a proposed French-brokered ceasefire between the two nations.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy flew to the Russian capital Moscow and the Georgian capital Tbilisi in a bid to stop the conflict in the former Soviet state.
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd on Wednesday told reporters he hoped the proposed ceasefire would work. "Let us hope we now have a way forward," he said.
One of the preconditions that France, as current president of the European Union, had imposed was to ensure humanitarian access, Mr Rudd said. "If that is the case and we have humanitarian access, Australia as always will be in there through the appropriate international agencies, including the ... Red Cross, to provide practical humanitarian help," he said. "Australians expect our government always to be out there with a helping hand when people are in need, and there are something like 100,000 displaced persons, I'm
advised, in this particular war zone in Georgia."
Foreign Minister Stephen Smith told ABC Radio he hoped to be able to detail the humanitarian aid package within the next 24 hours.
"Australia, of course, stands ready to contemplate humanitarian assistance. There have been a large number of civilians who have been killed or injured or displaced," he said.
But it is not yet considering whether to take refugees from the conflict.
Mr Smith confirmed that Georgia had approached Australia for military assistance but was knocked back. "At officer level in New York through the UN, Georgia approached ... a number of countries for military assistance," he said. "Our response was, of course, the obvious, which is - we are not interested in a military solution here, we're interested in ceasefire and a dialogue. So that was
made very clear."
The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade is advising Australians not to travel to Georgia.
Russian troops and tanks poured into Georgia on Friday after the Georgian army launched an offensive to regain control of South Ossetia, the Moscow-backed region which broke away from Tbilisi in the early 1990s.
The United Nations estimates 100,000 people have been forced from their homes, and up to 2,000 people are believed to have been killed.
The world is waiting to see what will happen with a proposed French-brokered ceasefire between the two nations.
French President Nicolas Sarkozy flew to the Russian capital Moscow and the Georgian capital Tbilisi in a bid to stop the conflict in the former Soviet state.
Prime Minister Kevin Rudd on Wednesday told reporters he hoped the proposed ceasefire would work. "Let us hope we now have a way forward," he said.
One of the preconditions that France, as current president of the European Union, had imposed was to ensure humanitarian access, Mr Rudd said. "If that is the case and we have humanitarian access, Australia as always will be in there through the appropriate international agencies, including the ... Red Cross, to provide practical humanitarian help," he said. "Australians expect our government always to be out there with a helping hand when people are in need, and there are something like 100,000 displaced persons, I'm
advised, in this particular war zone in Georgia."
Foreign Minister Stephen Smith told ABC Radio he hoped to be able to detail the humanitarian aid package within the next 24 hours.
"Australia, of course, stands ready to contemplate humanitarian assistance. There have been a large number of civilians who have been killed or injured or displaced," he said.
But it is not yet considering whether to take refugees from the conflict.
Mr Smith confirmed that Georgia had approached Australia for military assistance but was knocked back. "At officer level in New York through the UN, Georgia approached ... a number of countries for military assistance," he said. "Our response was, of course, the obvious, which is - we are not interested in a military solution here, we're interested in ceasefire and a dialogue. So that was
made very clear."
The Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade is advising Australians not to travel to Georgia.
