Moscow - The president of Georgia's pro-Russian separatist region of South Ossetia dismissed his government Monday and proclaimed a state of emergency, days after Georgia and Russia signed a six-point EU-mediated peace plan aimed at defusing the crisis in the Caucasus.

"I have signed three decrees, including one on the resignation of the government, another on proclamation of a state of emergency in South Ossetia and the third on setting up an emergency committee to settle the consequences of the Georgian aggression," Eduard Kokoity told Russia's Vesti-24 television.

Paris - French President Nicolas Sarkozy demanded that Russian troops withdraw "without delay" from Georgia, adding that "this point is not negotiable in my eyes."

In an article to appear in Le Figaro newspaper Monday, Sarkozy said he would convene a special European Union summit if Russia failed to remove its military troops that entered Georgia on and after August 7.

"If this clause of the ceasefire accord is not applied rapidly and totally, I would summon an extraordinary European Council to decide what consequences to draw," the article said.

New York - Unit

London, Aug. 16 : Human Rights Watch (HRW) officials have claimed that they have evidence of Russia using cluster bombs against civilian targets and infrastructure in Georgia.

Citing eyewitness accounts, as well as video and photographic evidence, the HRW officials said that Russian aircraft dropped RBK-250 cluster bombs, each containing 30 PTAB 2.5M submunitions, on the town of Ruisi in the Kareli district of Georgia on Tuesday.

Berlin - The Russian ambassador in Germany, Vladimir Kotenev, called for more international understanding for Moscow on Friday, saying that problems such as terrorism should only be solved "with Russia, not against Russia."

Speaking in an interview with German Deutschlandradio and other German media, he said: "What we appreciate in the relations with our German partners is the confidence and the commitment to listen to each other," he said.

"Of course this does not mean that we are always of the same opinion," he added.