Georgian President Says Country is Split As Russian Troops Advance

The Georgian president, Mikhail Saakashvili, today said his country had been split in two as Russian forces continued to advance.

Saakashvili said the main east-west route through Georgia had been cut off, separating the east of the country from its western Black Sea coast.

He accused Moscow of "ethnic cleansing" in the breakaway province of Abkhazia, where local forces were today reported to be trying to remove Georgian troops from the northern area of the Kodori gorge.

The Abkhaz forces' operation was announced by Sergei Shamba, the foreign minister of the Abkhaz separatist government, who said a UN observer mission in the area had been warned and had withdrawn.

"Everything is developing according to plan," he said.

The military clashes continued as the French president, Nicholas Sarkozy, traveled to the capitals of Russia and Georgia in an attempt to mediate in the conflict.

The UN and Nato were also meeting today as the west stepped up efforts to persuade Russia to agree a ceasefire with its US-backed neighbor.

Violence began in South Ossetia, the other Russian-backed separatist province in Georgia, last week.

However, Russian forces have advanced much further into Georgia and are now only a few hours from the capital, Tbilisi.

Moscow has denied it has any intention of marching on the city. Saakhashvili has urged residents not to panic, saying they would have seven or eight hours' warning of any impending troop advance.

Russian officials denied Georgian claims that soldiers had occupied the central town of Gori, which has been bombarded by air strikes.

Speaking after an emergency UN security council meeting last night, the Georgian UN ambassador, Irakli Alasania, said: "A full military invasion of Georgia is going on."