http://clipmarks.com/tags/karateli/http://rss.clipmarks.com/tags/karateli/15Clip, tag and save information that's important to you. Bookmarks save entire pages...Clipmarks save the specific content that matters to you!en-ushttp://clipmarks.com/clipmark/5E421D43-FB85-4DCE-8666-D3B8D5096835/<b>clipped by:</b> <a href="http://clipmarks.com/clipper/merrie/">merrie</a><br><b>clipper's remarks:</b> The violence was much worse in ethnic Georgian villages in the separatist territory of South Ossetia. Displaced persons told stories of how they hid in basements while Ossetian and Chechen irregulars rampaged through their villages. They recounted tales of neighbors being shot and of homes being torched. Events happened so fast that many, especially the elderly, didn’t have enough time to escape.<br/><br/>"They poured gasoline on houses and lit them on fire everyday," says 84 year-old Alexi Datashvili, one of about two dozen elderly and feeble residents from the Georgian villages [...]<br/><br/>In Gori itself, Russian officials have impeded Georgian television broadcasts, replacing them with Russian programming.<br/><br/>The recently modernized Georgian army base in Gori has been thoroughly ransacked. Several hundred meters north of the base, Russian forces are digging new artillery positions – an indicator that Russian troops are not intending to pull out soon. <br/><br/> <br><div border="2" style="margin-top: 10px; border:#000000 1px solid;" width="90%"><div style="background-color:#e5e5e5"><div align="center" width="100%" style="padding:4px;margin-bottom:4px;background-color:#666666;overflow:hidden;"><span style="color:#FFFFFF;font-weight:bold;">Clip Source: <a style="color:#FFFFFF;" href="http://www.eurasianet.org/departments/insight/articles/eav081808b.shtml" title="http://www.eurasianet.org/departments/insight/articles/eav081808b.shtml">www.eurasianet.org</a></span></div><div style="padding: 10px;"><div style="text-align:left;"><P>The Georgian village of Karateli lies seven kilometers north of Gori. While many buildings in the village are still standing, a large number of homes along the road have been destroyed and every store looted. Village residents recall being terrified as marauding bands swept into the village. </P></div></div><hr size="2" color="#666666" /><div style="padding: 10px;"><div style="text-align:left;"><P>A woman named Marina, who requested that her family name not be used, said she was one of eight people who hid in a garage as the looting occurred. "Ossetians attacked us, they stole all our cars – didn’t leave a single one," she states. Indeed, the only vehicles to be seen in the town were all burned-out wrecks. Marina said that while she was in hiding, her house was pillaged and a storeroom burned.</P></div></div><hr size="2" color="#666666" /><div style="padding: 10px;"><div style="text-align:left;"><P>Locals claim only a few Georgians were killed, although another village resident, Medea Bibilashvili, claimed that "some" young men were rounded up and taken away. The account could not be independently verified.</P></div></div></div></div><br><div style="margin-bottom: 40px;">Tags: <a href="http://clipmarks.com/tags/gori/" rel="tag">gori</a>, <a href="http://clipmarks.com/tags/karateli/" rel="tag">karateli</a>, <a href="http://clipmarks.com/tags/ossetians+and+chechen+irregulars/" rel="tag">ossetians and chechen irregulars</a>, <a href="http://clipmarks.com/tags/russian+tv+broadcast/" rel="tag">russian tv broadcast</a>, <a href="http://clipmarks.com/tags/gori+army+base/" rel="tag">gori army base</a></div>http://www.eurasianet.org/departments/insight/articles/eav081808b.shtmlWed, 20 Aug 2008 03:25:57 GMT