GEORGIA-RUSSIA-OSSETIA-CONFLICT

Two Georgian policemen keep a checkpoint 1kms before the first Ossetian checkpoint, on August 26, 2008, near Akhalgori, South Ossetia. Russian President Dmitry Medvedev announced he had signed a decree under which Russia formally recognises the rebel Georgian provinces of South Ossetia and Abkhazia as independent states. AFP PHOTO OLIVIER LABAN-MATTEI