US warships scrap visit to Georgian port-source
26 Aug 2008 20:23:22 GMT
Source: Reuters
(Adds U.S. comment)

TBILISI, Aug 26 (Reuters) - U.S. warships have scrapped a plan to deliver relief supplies to Georgia's flashpoint port of Poti on Wednesday, a source close to the U.S. embassy in Tbilisi said.

"The ships will not dock in Poti tomorrow," the source told Reuters, referring to a planned mission by the USS McFaul and another vessel.

Their presence would have been sure to enrage Russia, which has troops patrolling the port following a brief war with Georgia.

"There was a possibility that the McFaul might go to Poti but no-one has given us a final decision. We're not sure (if it's coming)," a US navy source told Reuters.

Pentagon did not confirm or deny scrapping the Poti visit.

"We're evaluating all ports for what makes the most sense for delivering relief supplies expeditiously," Pentagon spokesman Bryan Whitman told Reuters.

Whitman said the U.S. Coast Guard cutter Dallas was due to reach Georgia within 24 hours and that the USS McFaul had left the port of Batumi after unloading its aid supplies. He did not say where it had gone.

U.S. Navy Lt. Commander Tamsen Reese said the Dallas is in the Black Sea and that the USS McFaul would remain in the area as the command vessel for the Navy's segment of a U.S. aid mission dubbed "Operation Assured Delivery."

A third vessel, the Navy command ship USS Mount Whitney, has also been loaded with aid supplies and has left its home port in Italy, Reese said.

Russian President Dmitry Medvedev has earlier accused Washington of delivering weapons to Georgia by sea, but made clear Russian ships deployed near the Georgian coast will not obstruct the operation.

"What the Americans call humanitarian cargoes -- of course, they are bringing in weapons," he told the BBC in an interview, adding: "We're not trying to prevent it."

The White House spokesman later rejected Medvedev's accusations of U.S. ships bringing in weapons as "ridiculous". (Additional reporting by Washington bureau) (Reporting by Margarita Antidze; writing by Jon Boyle; Editing by Richard Balmforth)