Three Georgian peacekeepers were killed and seven others were wounded in overnight shooting in breakaway South Ossetia where daily clashes have continued despite attempts to reach a cease-fire, officials said Wednesday. Tensions in South Ossetia, which broke away from the central government in 1992 following an 18-month that killed hundreds, have escalated since the January election of Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili, who has pledged to unite the country. Saakashvili on Tuesday appealed to world leaders to help convene an international conference on South Ossetia and deploy Western peacekeepers in the region. The province has been patrolled by Georgian, Russian and Ossetian peacekeeping battalions.
