Three wounded in shootout in Georgia rebel region

TBILISI, Jan 28 (Reuters) Three policemen were wounded in a shootout in Georgia's breakaway region of South Ossetia early today, an Ossetian official said, describing the attack as a provocation by Tbilisi's forces. Boris Chochiev, a senior minister of the separatist government, said by telephone Georgian troops fired at police posts outside the regional capital Tskhinvali.

''Three policemen were wounded, one of them critically,'' he said. ''Georgian authorities say they are seeking a peaceful settlement of the conflict, but in reality they work to raise tensions further.'' Sporadic shootouts are not unusual in South Ossetia, a tiny region on the Russian border which broke away from Georgia after the Soviet Union collapsed in 1991 and seeks full independence followed by merger with Russia.

Separatists, backed by Moscow, reject offers of wide autonomy by Georgia, which seeks to re-establish control over the province.

Russian news agencies quoted Ossetian officials as saying a group of up to 10 Georgian soldiers used mortars, grenade launchers and assault rifles during the attack.

Georgia, which takes part in a South Ossetian peacekeeping force along with Russia, said it was aware there had been shooting but its forces were not involved.

''Our peacekeepers heard sounds of a shootout last night but we have no relation to the incident,'' a Georgian Interior ministry official said.

South Ossetia and another Russia-backed breakaway region of Abkhazia on the Black Sea have become major irritants in uneasy relations between Tbilisi and Moscow. Georgia is seeking to replace Russian peacekeepers with a UN force.

REUTERS DKA BD1540