Georgia to ask for UN Council meeting on missile

UNITED NATIONS, Aug 8 (Reuters) Georgia said today it would request a special meeting of the UN Security Council to discuss what it called an ''act of aggression'' by Russian aircraft after a missile landed in Georgia earlier this week.

The missile landed -- but did not explode -- in a field about 65 km west of Tbilisi on Monday, sparking a spat between Georgia and Russia and re-igniting old tensions. Russia denied involvement.

In Tbilisi, a Georgian official said today the missile was ditched, not fired, by a Russian jet. But a senior Georgian diplomat told a UN news conference the plane had ''launched'' the missile in an ''aerial bombardment.'' ''Georgia will address the president of the United Nations Security Council to convene a special meeting of the Security Council in order to address this matter,'' Deputy Permanent Representative Irakli Chikovani said.

''The council has to be resolute in condemning an attack on the territory of a sovereign country. We call upon the council to conduct a high-level investigation,'' he said.

Chikovani said he would meet later today with officials of the Congo Republic, current president of the 15-nation council on which Russia and four other countries have veto power.

The Georgian diplomat said Tbilisi considered the strike to be a violation of a UN charter article prohibiting use of force ''and as an act of aggression'' under a General Assembly resolution of 1974.

He called on Russia, as well as the Security Council, to conduct a ''timely and thorough investigation'' of the incident and provide an ''exhaustive explanation.'' He also urged the European Union and other international organizations to verify what had happened.

''My country ... cannot tolerate such an offense against our citizens and our sovereignty,'' Chikovani said. But he said Georgia did not consider itself to be in a state of conflict with Russia.

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