The UN Security Council Friday began a second emergency meeting in less than 24 hours to discuss the fighting involving Russian and Georgian troops over the breakaway region of South Ossetia, according to dpa. Council members were summoned to the closed-door session Friday afternoon, after they were unable to agree on ways to stop the escalating violence at the first meeting after midnight Thursday. Russia, one of the five veto-wielding permanent council members, called for the meeting after accusing Georgia of aggressive behaviour. Friday's emergency session was requested by Georgia's UN Ambassador Irakli Alasania, whose country has accused Russia of backing separatist forces in South Ossetia and Abkhasia, and threatened Georgia's independence, sovereignty and territorial integrity. Alasania, in a letter to the council's president, said Russian troops had invaded Georgian territory and Russian planes had bombed targets in the country. UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon expressed concern about the latest fighting in a statement issued Thursday in New York and urged warring parties to refrain from action that could endanger stability in their region.
