Bloomberg Worldwide Report

Greetings from the Greek Islands,

This week Harry is not the only one out to sea. I have met several of my friends from Atlanta in Athens for a 7 day journey over to Turkey and back. I will keep you updated on Harry as often as possible.

The following is an article from Bloomberg Worldwide.

U.S. Navy Ship Arrives at Georgian Port Where Russia Has Troops

By Helena Bedwell

Sept. 5 (Bloomberg) -- The flagship of the U.S. navy's 6th Fleet anchored off Georgia's Black Sea port of Poti today, about 10 kilometers from a post manned by Russian peacekeeping forces following Georgia's five-day war with Russia.

The USS Mount Whitney sailed into Poti harbor with a cargo of humanitarian aid, Khatia Dzhindzhikhadze, a spokeswoman for the U.S. embassy in the Georgian capital Tbilisi, said by phone from Poti.

The U.S. has sent three navy ships to deliver $37 million in aid to Georgia since the fighting ended with Russia over the separatist region of South Ossetia. The presence of U.S. and North Atlantic Treaty Organization ships in the Black Sea has further strained relations with Russia already chilled by Western condemnation of the conflict in Georgia.

Andrei Nesterenko, a spokesman for Russia's Foreign Ministry, said in televised comments that the arrival of the Mount Whitney ``raises questions'' about whether the ship conforms to the 1936 Montreux Convention, which sets out rules for the passage of military vessels through the Dardanelles and Bosporus straits to the Black Sea.

Nesterenko also raised doubts about the U.S. decision to use warships to deliver humanitarian aid. Military vessels like the Mount Whitney ``could hardly deliver a large amount of humanitarian aid,'' he said.

Buffer Zones

U.S. aid to Georgia has included water, blankets, baby food and toiletries intended for people displaced by the fighting.

Russia has said its peacekeepers in Poti are acting in compliance with a European Union-brokered cease-fire agreement that ended the fighting over South Ossetia. Peacekeepers are posted in two buffer zones that extend into Georgia from South Ossetia and Abkhazia, two breakaway regions whose independence Russia recognized on Aug. 26. Poti is located outside the Abkhaz buffer zone.

The entire article can be found:

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=newsarchive&sid=aGhDLyug6Qp0

Blessings until next time,

Kristie