Russian troops start dismantling Georgia posts

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Moscow faces a Friday deadline for pulling back its troops under the terms of a deal brokered by French President Nicolas Sarkozy on behalf of the European Union. Hundreds of EU observers began monitoring Russia's compliance last week.

A pullback would likely mean at least a mild reduction of tensions between Russia and the West following their worst confrontation since the Soviet collapse. But substantial points of dispute remain.

Russia was dismantling positions Sunday inside what it calls security zones, extending roughly four miles inside uncontested Georgian territory.

But Moscow vows to keep thousands of its troops stationed in two separatist Georgian regions that it recognizes as independent countries South Ossetia and Abkhazia which appears to stretch the terms of the cease-fire and which the Georgian government denounces.

Tensions also rose sharply on Friday when a car bomb killed nine people when it exploded outside Russian forces' headquarters in Tskhinvali, the capital of South Ossetia.

South Ossetian President Eduard Kokoity on Sunday said investigators had found demonstrable "Georgian traces" in the explosion and said security would be tightened by reducing the number of crossing points from Georgia into the republic to two, the Interfax news agency reported.

South Ossetian officials previously alleged that Georgian special services were behind the bombing, aiming to undermine the cease-fire.

The war began Aug. 7 when Georgian troops launched an offensive to regain control of South Ossetia, one of two Georgian separatist regions where Russia has troops stationed as peacekeepers.

Russia sent a large force that quickly routed the Georgian military and pushed deep into the former Soviet republic, occupying large swaths. Russia then declared what it called a security zone roughly four miles deep inside Georgia south of South Ossetia and Abkhazia.

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