Tue, Aug 12th, 2008 3:13 pm BdST

MOSCOW Tue Aug 12, (bdnews24.com/Reuters) - Russian President Dmitry Medvedev said on Tuesday he had ordered an end to the military operation in Georgia, Interfax news agency reported.

Pro-Western Georgia and Russia came into direct conflict over South Ossetia last week after Tbilisi launched an offensive to regain control over the pro-Moscow breakaway separatist region.

Hostilities appeared to broaden as Abkhazia, another Russia-backed rebel region, launched an offensive at dawn on Tuesday to force Georgian troops out of the disputed Kodori gorge, Abkhaz Foreign Minister Sergei Shamba said.

US President George W Bush demanded Russia end its armed conflict with Georgia and accused the Kremlin of trying to topple Georgia's leadership.

"Russia has invaded a sovereign neighboring state and threatens a democratic government elected by its people. Such an action is unacceptable in the 21st century," Bush said.

He said a "dramatic and brutal escalation" of Russia's push into Georgia would jeopardise relations with the West.

Georgia hosts a key oil pipeline supplying the West and the fighting has unsettled oil markets. It has alarmed investors in Russia and has raised fears of a wider conflagration in the volatile region bordering Iran, Turkey and Russia.

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