By Stephanie Nebehay GENEVA, Aug 13 (Reuters) - The International Committee of the Red Cross expects to win access shortly to South Ossetia, where up to 50,000 civilians may be in dire need of clean water and other essentials, a senior ICRC official said on Wednesday. Dominik Stillhart, ICRC deputy director of operations, said the neutral agency was gearing up for a substantial humanitarian operation in the breakaway Georgian region lasting until at least early 2009. But it is still negotiating urgently with all three parties to the conflict -- Georgia, Russia and South Ossetia -- and seeking their assurances that its aid workers will be safe. "We are concerned about being granted safe and unimpeded access to the civilian population in South Ossetia. For this we need security guarantees," Stillhart told Reuters in an interview in his Geneva office. "We have lined up resources and we are ready to go there. We really expect that we will be granted access shortly," he said. About 70,000 people lived in South Ossetia prior to the conflict. Half of them were in the capital Tskhinvali, which bore the brunt of fighting that began last Thursday when Georgia sought to retake the pro-Russian region. Moscow responded with a huge counter-offensive but a shaky ceasefire was reached on Tuesday. "DESPERATE PHONE CALLS" The ICRC estimates that from one-third to one-half of South Ossetia's population has fled the fighting, which caused "widespread destruction of infrastructure", including medical as well as water and sanitation facilities, according to Stillhart. "Those remaining behind are perhaps anywhere from 35,000 to 50,000 people, that's what we are preparing ourselves for. We are getting desperate phone calls from people who stayed behind," he said. "The priority will be to set up a surgical hospital in Tskhinvali. For us, care for war-wounded is priority number one in terms of operations, then assistance to IDPs (internally displaced persons) and of course access to prisoners of war." ICRC officials have seen some 1,000 war-wounded in hospitals in Georgia proper, not including South Ossetia, he said. The Geneva-based agency, which has no overall casualty figures, has beefed up its staffing in Georgia to some 50 expatriates along with 100 local staff. It flew in 15 tonnes of medical supplies on Tuesday to Tbilisi. On Wednesday the ICRC launched a five-day air bridge from Jordan to the Georgian capital with an initial flight of 35 tonnes of goods including blankets, jerrycans and tarpaulins for at least 60,000 displaced people in Georgia, including 15,000 who fled from South Ossetia. Rice and food parcels will be flown in over coming days. Stillhart, noting that the ICRC had visited two wounded Russian pilots held by Georgian authorities this week, said it was seeking access to all people captured or arrested in connection with the conflict. "We expect to be granted access to these prisoners of war as this is an obligation of the warring parties according to international humanitarian law," he said, referring to the Geneva Conventions of which the ICRC is the custodian. The ICRC eventually will look into issues surrounding the conduct of hostilities -- including the proportionality of the use of force -- and if necessary raise them bilaterally with the warring parties, according to Stillhart. Another estimated 12,000 people fled to North Ossetia from South Ossetia and are being cared for by Russian authorities who have the situation "pretty much under control", he said. (Editing by Mark Trevelyan)
Police prevent protesters from presenting a coffin to the Russian consulate during a demonstration by the Georgian diaspora in Kiev August 13, 2008. European Union foreign ministers agreed in principle on ...
