News Brief

(IsraelNN.com) Georgian President Mikhail Sa'akashvili told a massive rally of his supporters outside the nation's parliament building Tuesday that he would end Georgia's membership in the Russian-controlled organization of former Soviet states, the Commonwealth of Independent States (CIS).

"We are leaving the CIS for good and propose that other countries leave this body run by Russia," Sa'akashvili told the crowd, according to the Interfax news agency.

Although Russia said it would abide by a ceasefire earlier Tuesday, by late afternoon its troops were still stationed in Georgia and were still authorized to shoot enemy soldiers in the breakaway region of South Ossetia.