Car blast kills seven outside Russian HQ

TBILISI, Georgia (AP) -- A car has exploded outside the Russian military headquarters in South Ossetia, killing seven people and wounding several others.

The chief of the Russian military in the breakaway Georgian region said the dead were all members of the Russian peacekeeping force based there.

Russia's Foreign Ministry condemned the attack as a crime and said it was aimed at undermining efforts to ensure peace and security in South Ossetia and Georgia.

There was no immediate indication, however, that Russia would abandon its commitment to withdraw peacekeepers from a swath of land surrounding South Ossetia next week.

The ITAR-Tass news agency quoted South Ossetia's separatist president, Eduard Kokoity, as calling the blast `a targeted terrorist act' by the Georgian security service.

Georgia's Security Council chief, Alexander Lomaia, denied Georgian involvement and told The Associated Press that Russian 'occupation forces' and South Ossetian separatists bear full responsibility for what happens in areas they control.

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