T V Aug 16- War of words over bridge

Aug. 16 - Georgia accuses Russia of destroying a railway bridge on Saturday - which Russia flatly denies.

Georgian Prime Minister Lado Gurgenidze told reporters that Russian soldiers had destroyed a key railway bridge on Saturday.

He said destruction of the bridge resulted in the country losing east-west railway communications.


Soundbites:
# Georgia's Reintegration Minister Temur Iakobashvili.
# Anatoly Nagovitsyn, Colonel-General, Deputy Chief Of The General Staff, saying (Russian):
"When we were in a fighting phase of the peacekeeping operation, yes, bridges were our objectives, and we've shared this information, because this way we could block troop movements and reinforcements. That's a common military practice. But now, when we are in peace time why should we be blowing up bridges when we will have to restore them afterwards? We are already working hard restoring things, so I think it is just another unverified statement. We are not conducting bombardments, because we are now involved in humanitarian activity along with the peacekeeping one. I can say with full responsibility that this cannot be the case.

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