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Georgia pulls troops from S. Ossetia

TBILISI, Georgia, Aug. 10 (UPI) -- Georgia said Sunday it has pulled its troops from the South Ossetian capital of Tskhinvali in the face of a massive Russian counter-attack.

The troops, which were ordered into the breakaway region of South Ossetia Friday by Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili, were returning to positions they held before Thursday, CNN reported.

Other reports, however, said wasn't clear if Georgia troops were exiting just Tskhinvali or South Ossetia entirely. Georgian Reintegration Minister Temur Yakobashvili said troops left Tskhinvali but were remaining in other areas of South Ossetia, Radio Free Europe said.

About 200 Georgian soldiers have died in South Ossetia, while 37 Georgian civilians have died so far in Russian counter-attacks, military officials told CNN. Separatists and Russian officials claimed 1,500 South Ossetians had died in the violence.

Earlier Sunday, Russian forces launched an airstrike on a military airfield near the Tbilisi International Airport, Georgian officials told CNN.

A delegation of NATO, European Union and U.S. officials were expected in Tblisi Sunday to attempt to negotiate a peaceful resolution to the armed conflict. Radio Free Europe said the U.N. Security Council met privately in New York Saturday.

Eight die in China separatist bombings

KUQA, China, Aug. 10 (UPI) -- Seven ethnic Uygur terrorists and a security guard died in a bomb attack aimed at local authorities in remote northwestern China, officials said Sunday.

Two Chinese police officers and two civilians were also hurt in a series of 12 pipe-bomb blasts, which authorities say began when a three-wheeled vehicle holding a bomb blew up outside a police station in the Xinjiang Uygur Autonomous Region, about 2,500 miles from Beijing, Xinhua, the state-run Chinese news agency, reported.

The first blast killed a security guard and injured two police officers. One of the bombers was shot dead at the scene and another committed suicide. Several hours later, police found five more bombers hiding in a nearby market. Xinhua said two of them were killed by police and three others blew themselves up.

Chinese authorities say they have clamped a security lid on Kuqa County in the autonomous zone. The government has accused Muslim Uygur separatists of trying to threaten the Olympic Games. An Aug. 4 attack in Xinjiang killed 16 police officers.

Xinjiang is home to a majority Muslim population that is ethnically and linguistically distinctive from the Chinese. Uygur separatists are seeking to establish their own state.

Hu praises U.S. relations in Bush meeting

BEIJING, Aug. 10 (UPI) -- U.S. President George Bush and Chinese counterpart Hu Jintao met Sunday in Beijing, discussing bilateral relations, Taiwan and the Olympics, officials said.

Hu said he was pleased with the momentum of U.S.-China bilateral relations, noting Bush's trip to Beijing was his fourth, the most ever for a sitting president, and citing progress on issues ranging from North Korea's nuclear program to Iran and Darfur.

Bush praised Hu on the thaw in relations between China and Taiwan, noting the implementation of tourism and cultural ties, but Hu reiterated China's position that "no matter what kind of changes take place in the cross-Strait relations, our stance of adhering to the one-China principle and opposing 'Taiwan independence' secessionist activities will never change," Xinhua, the state-run Chinese new agency said.

On the Beijing Olympics, Bush told Hu Friday's opening ceremonies were "spectacular" and thanked the government for its arrangement of his activities there. Hu, meanwhile, congratulated Bush on the gold medal performance of U.S. swimmer Michael Phelps, who clinched the medal in the 400-meter individual medley Saturday.

Hu called Phelps "an excellent athlete" and predicted he will "achieve more outstanding results" in the Olympic swimming competition.

Philippines fire on rebel-held villages

MINDANAO, Philippines, Aug. 10 (UPI) -- Filipino troops Sunday launched attacks on villages held by a rebel Muslim group as a cease-fire agreement was set to take effect, officials said.

The action was undertaken by the government in the North Cotabato province of Mindanao, where members of the Moro Islam Liberation Front were holding 10 villages.

Jorge Segovia, acting chief of the Philippines Command Center, confirmed the government has launched clearing operations in the villages, Xinhua, the state-run Chinese news agency, reported.

"In certain areas of North Cotabato with a specific group of MILF, all peaceful means have been exhausted to resolve the conflicts and we are now compelled to resort to the application of justifiable force," Segovia said in a written statement.

The Philippines had reached a cease-fire agreement with the MILF, which had agreed to leave the North Cotabato villages. But Segovia says soldiers on the ground were ignoring the deal and hanging onto their positions, making them a "bandit group."

MILF chief negotiator Mohagher Iqbal called government's offensive a "gross violation of the cease fire," GMANews reported.