Rebels push to sever Georgia ties
 Russian TV showed a huge crowd at the rally in Abkhazia |
The separatist leaders of Georgia's breakaway regions of Abkhazia and South Ossetia have urged Russia to recognise their independence, at mass rallies.
Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said Moscow's response to their pleas would depend on the conduct of Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili.
Russia says it will keep troops in a security zone around South Ossetia.
It will extend several kilometres into Georgia proper. Russia also plans to strengthen its South Ossetia force.
"Tomorrow, eight checkpoints will be established in the security zone in which 500 peacekeepers will be deployed, no more than that," said Mr Lavrov, quoted by Reuters news agency.
It is still not clear to what extent Russian military forces have withdrawn from Georgia, despite Moscow's promise to pull out most of its troops by the end of Friday.
Russian news agencies say an armoured column, consisting of more than 40 vehicles, has passed through South Ossetia, on its way to the Russian border.
A BBC correspondent in the Georgian village of Igoeti, just 35km (21 miles) from the capital Tbilisi, said he saw the Russian military pulling back towards South Ossetia early on Thursday afternoon. Russian forces were also reported to be still dug in around Georgia's main Black Sea port of Poti.
Russia poured troops into Georgia after Georgian forces tried to retake South Ossetia on 7 August. Russian-led peacekeeping troops had been deployed there since a war in the early 1990s.
 Russian troops moved far into Georgia from the breakaway regions |
Thousands of people attended pro-independence rallies in the Abkhaz capital Sukhumi and war-ravaged South Ossetian capital Tskhinvali on Thursday.
The world-renowned conductor Valery Gergiyev - himself an Ossetian - plans to give a concert in South Ossetia with his St Petersburg orchestra on Thursday.
Chill in Nato-Russia ties
Meanwhile, Russia says it is reviewing its co-operation with Nato, which has insisted that Moscow pull its troops out of Georgia, in line with a French-brokered ceasefire agreement.
Nato said on Tuesday there could be no "business as usual" with Moscow.
 | PEACE PLAN No more use of force Stop all military actions for good Free access to humanitarian aid Georgian troops return to their places of permanent deployment Russian troops to return to pre-conflict positions International talks about security in South Ossetia and Abkhazia  |
At an emergency meeting, Nato suspended formal contacts with Russia because of the Russian military presence in Georgia.
"Relations with Nato will be reviewed," Russian Deputy Foreign Minister Alexander Grushko was quoted as saying by Interfax news agency on Thursday.
"This will apply to the military co-operation programme," he said.
Nato has accused Russia of failing to respect the truce, which requires both Russian and Georgian forces to pull back to the positions they held before heavy fighting erupted in South Ossetia.
On Wednesday, Norway's defence ministry said Russia had informed Norwegian diplomats that it was planning to freeze co-operation with Nato.
Norway's Aftenposten newspaper said Oslo was trying to establish exactly what impact the Russian decision would have on existing co-operation, such as joint rescue operations and border controls. Norway shares a border with Russia in the Arctic.
A statement from the Norwegian defence ministry said: "Norway notes that Russia has decided that for now it is 'freezing' all military co-operation with Nato and allied countries.
"We expect that this will not affect planned activities in the areas of coastguard operations, search and rescue and resource management, because on the Russian side these are handled by civilian authorities."
Russia has not yet given Norway formal written notification about its suspension of co-operation, a ministry spokesperson said.
Russia's permanent envoy at Nato headquarters in Brussels, Dmitry Rogozin, has been recalled to Moscow for consultations, Russia's Itar-Tass news agency reports.
He said that in light of Nato's position on the Georgia conflict, relations with Nato "really cannot remain as before", but he added that "there will not be a cold war".
A state secretary in Norway's defence ministry, Espen Barth Eide, said "there's no doubt that our relationship to Russia has now chilled".
Pakistan bombers hit arms factory
Aftermath of two bomb blasts outside a munitions factory in Wah
At least 63 people have been killed in twin suicide bombings outside a munitions factory in the Pakistani town of Wah, hospital sources say.
The attack is the deadliest on a military site in Pakistan's history.
The bombs hit the city, 30km (18 miles) north of Islamabad, as workers left. Many people were injured.
A spokesman for the Pakistani Taleban said they had carried out the attacks, which he said were a response to army violence in the country's north-west.
Speaking to the BBC, Maulvi Umar of the Tehrik-e-Taleban Pakistan said the bombings in Wah were in retaliation for the deaths of "innocent women and children" in the tribal area of Bajaur.
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He said more attacks would take place in Pakistan's major urban conurbations unless the army withdrew from the tribal areas.
Correspondents say Wah, in the province of Punjab, is a strategically important town normally under heavy security as it is home to a large industrial complex producing conventional arms and ammunition.
Local police chief Nasir Khan Durrani told the BBC: "Many others have been injured and we expect casualties to rise in the coming hours.
"At least 25 people have been critically injured."
Mr Durrani said none of the dead was military personnel.
'Disturbing'
The first blast took place outside the gate of the factory as workers were leaving work during a shift change.
Minutes later, another blast took place at another gate of the same factory.
 Tanks used by the Pakistani army are made at Wah |
Mohid Ahmed, a student from Wah, was on a tour of the ordnance factories and witnessed the immediate aftermath of the blast from his bus.
"It was very disturbing," he told the BBC.
"There was smoke, bodies and blood. Those who were left alive were in great suffering. I saw a man clutching his leg and crying in pain and asking for help. I saw people running away from the scene."
On Tuesday, 32 people were killed in a suicide attack on a hospital in the northern town of Dera Ismail Khan.
The BBC's Syed Shoaib Hasan says it is the second recent direct attack on a Pakistani military installation.
Last September, 17 officers and soldiers were killed in a suicide attack on a special forces base in the nearby town of Tarbela-Ghazi.
The ordnance factories at Wah lie on the road into Pakistan's troubled north-west, where fighting between security forces and Islamic militants has raged in recent weeks.
Established in the early 1950s, it is a sprawling complex manufacturing everything from tanks and small arms to artillery shells.
Militants have often threatened to increase the level of violence unless the army pulls back from tribal areas close to the border with Afghanistan.
On Monday, President Musharraf, a key ally of President Bush's "war on terror" resigned after nine years in power to avoid being impeached.
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