Brussels - A donors' conference dedicated to rebuilding Georgia's civilian infrastructure after August's war with Russia is set to open in Brussels on October 21 or 22, Belgian officials confirmed Thursday.

The one-day conference, which was proposed by European Union heads of state and government at an emergency summit on September 1, is intended to gather aid pledges from the international community, Belgian Foreign Ministry officials told Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa.

The announcement of the conference comes 10 days after the European Commission, the EU's executive, pledged a package of 500 million euros (733.7 million dollars) in aid for the post-war reconstruction and economic recovery of Georgia.

New York - As world leaders gathered for an annual series of speeches, meetings and action this week at the United Nations, there was a new conflict that pierced the organization's usually stuffy diplomatic air.

There were no official UN meetings this week dealing with last month's war between Russia and Georgia. But the conflict was a regular topic of leaders from around the world who took turns this week addressing the UN General Assembly in New York.

Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili called on the UN to condemn Russia's "brutal invasion" and help implement a ceasefire. His tough words were backed up by the heads of other states from the region.

Paris  - The European Union plans to send more than 300 observers to Georgia, substantially more than had been foreseen, a French foreign ministry spokesman said on Wednesday.

Asked during an electronic press conference about media reports that the mission could comprise 340 observers, instead of the 200 originally called for, Frederic Bouillon said, "We confirm that the EU observation mission in Georgia could comprise 300 observers, to which must be added the logistical support personnel."

Brussels  - International talks on the summer's Georgian-Russian war are set to start in Geneva on October 15 on "expert level," the European Commission's top diplomat said Wednesday in a further twist to the ongoing debate over the talks.

After a meeting between European Union foreign ministers and their Russian counterpart in New York, EU Foreign-Affairs Commissioner Benita Ferrero-Waldner said the two sides agreed that the talks "will be a meeting, most probably on October 15, on expert level first."

New York -Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili issued a dramatic call late Tuesday for the United Nations to mediate in the Caucasus republic's conflict with Russia and breakaway regions South Ossetia and Abkhazia, in a speech to the UN General Assembly.

Saakashvili called on the UN to denounce Russia's "brutal invasion" of his country last month and to help implement a stalled ceasefire plan that calls for a complete pullback of Russian troops from Georgian territory.