Georgia missile jet flew from north - report

TBILISI, Aug 8 (Reuters) The aircraft which dropped a missile near a Georgian village flew there from the direction of Russia, a preliminary report by international monitors said today.

But the report, obtained by Reuters, did not state conclusively that the missile was dropped by Russia, saying monitors had been unable to identify the aircraft or the missile.

The missile landed -- but did not explode -- in a farmer's field on Monday about 65 km west of Georgia's capital. Georgia blamed Russia, but Moscow denied any involvement and accused Tbilisi of staging a ''provocation''.

The incident has aggravated already tense relations between Russia and its smaller former Soviet neighbour.

The preliminary report was compiled by a joint monitoring team (JMT) from the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE), the continent's 56-nation security and rights watchdog, and peacekeepers operating in South Ossetia, a breakaway region near where the missile landed.

The peacekeepers, stationed in the region since a separatist war in the 1990s, are made up of Russian and Georgian troops.

''The JMT was shown by Georgian officials a radar printout that indicated a track entering the area from the northeast and then exiting the same way,'' said the report, which has not been published.

Russia lies to the northeast of the area of Georgian territory that the aircraft flew over.

The report said this flight path was confirmed by peacekeepers from Russia's North Ossetia region who were manning an observation post in the area at the time the missile was dropped.

''The observation post commander and other personnel stated that on August 6 at 1840-1845 local time they observed one aircraft flying from northeast to southwest at about 3 km (2 miles) altitude,'' the report said.

''Before the aircraft reached the observation post it reportedly launched a rocket.'' Russia's air force has said none of its aircraft were in the area at the time of the incident. Officials in Moscow have suggested the missile may have been dropped by a Georgian jet as part of a ruse to discredit Russia.

Reuters SRS VP0045