Grakali, Georgia  - "We can get traffic moving across this in two weeks - if the Russians don't blow it up again," said Georgian railroad engineer Georgy Gurgiashvidze.

"But if they do blow it up a second time, maybe at least they'll admit they did it," he told a Deutsche Presse-Agentur dpa reporter on Wednesday, as he gestured at the twisted remains of one of Georgia's most critical rail links lying in a gully next to the sluggish Kvari River.

The Kvari River railroad bridge near the central Georgian village Grakali connects the capital Tbilisi with points westward, that is, it did until the Russian army demolition experts arrived.

Georgia, Russia - Georgia's rebel region of Abkhazia will lodge a formal appeal with Moscow on Wednesday to be recognized as an independent state, the parliamentary speaker for the autonomous region told news agency Interfax.

Abkhazia will hold a special parliamentary session on Wednesday to consider an independence appeal to Russia for recognition by the breakaway region's president Sergei Bagapsh, Abkhaz parliament speaker Nugzar Ashuba said.

"We will request to recognize the independence of our republic," Ashuba was quoted by the agency as saying.

Brussels- The security situation in Georgia is improving by the day, but international aid workers still have no access to the breakaway province of South Ossetia, European Union officials said Wednesday.

Latest EU estimates put the number of refugees and people internally displaced by the conflict with Russia at 124,000. They are currently being hosted in 672 Georgian refugee centres.

Geneva - The international Red Cross (ICRC) said Wednesday that after two days' waiting, its aid workers had now gained access to South Ossetia and were proceeding to the provincial capital Tskhinvali.

The ICRC also said that its president, Jakob Kellenberger, during a three-day trip to the crisis region, had been able to hold talks with both Georgian and Russian officials, during which he had pressed for Red Cross workers being given unhindered access.

Tbilisi - Russia's army on Wednesday continued its occupation of two enclaves in Georgia as Kremlin officials claimed they would accelerate what they said was an already in-progress withdrawal.

Russian troops were operating road checkpoints throughout Georgia's Gori region, allowing civilian traffic to pass after inspection but blocking official Georgian vehicles.

Russian naval infantry held Georgia's Black Sea port of Poti under firm control as well as the key road hub Senaki, 30 kilometres inland.

New York  - The United Nations was on Tuesday seeking 58.6 million dollars from the international community to help an estimated 130,000 Georgians affected by the conflict that erupted between Russia and Georgia on August 7.

The amount sought would cover six months of humanitarian programmes to be carried out by UN relief agencies and non- governmental organizations.