MOSCOW/TBILISI, Aug 12: Russian President Dmitry Medvedev ordered a halt to military operations in Georgia on Tuesday but Tbilisi cast doubt on the announcement, saying Moscow was still bombing towns and villages.

The announcement coincided with the visit of French president Nicolas Sarkozy to Moscow on an EU peace mission intended to help international efforts to negotiate a lasting truce.

Sarkozy said Russia and Georgia, who have been fighting since last Thursday, had not yet agreed a peace deal, adding: “We don’t yet have peace. But we have a provisional cessation of hostilities. And everyone should be aware that this is considerable progress. There is still much work to be done....What we want is to secure the best result.”

In a first US reaction, Washington’s envoy to the region, Matthew Bryza, termed the Russian move “extremely positive”.

The conflict over the tiny separatist province of South Ossetia has spooked markets and rattled the West. It began when Georgia tried to re-take the pro-Russian region last week, provoking a massive counter-offensive from Moscow.

Medvedev criticised Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili on Tuesday as a “lunatic”. Saakashvili had promised voters he would win back South Ossetia and a second separatist area, Abkhazia.

“You know, lunatics’ difference from other people is that when they smell blood it is very difficult to stop them. So you have to use surgery,” Medvedev told a news conference.

Georgians saw it differently, with a huge crowd outside the parliament building in Tbilisi hailing Saakashvili as a hero for defending his country against aggression from Moscow.

Speakers denounced Russia as the crowd chanted: “Georgia, Georgia!” Posters held up by demonstrators showed a photograph of Putin with the caption: “Wanted: Crimes against humanity in the world.”

Saakashvili then appeared to cheers and pledged that one day Georgia would beat Russia. “I promise you today, that I’ll remind them of everything they have done and one day we will win,” he said.

In the conflict zone, a series of sudden, unexpected explosions on Tuesday in the town of Gori, about 70 km (40 miles) west of Tbilisi, killed at least five civilians, a Reuters correspondent said.

Television footage and pictures suggested the blasts were caused by mortars, although it was not clear who fired. Russian forces were reported to be around 12 km (7 miles) away at the time and denied attacking the town, which is the birthplace of great Soviet leader Josef Stalin.

A Reuters witness said blasts shook the street in quick succession, gouging craters in the street and sending shrapnel flying through the air.

Broadcaster RTL later said a Dutch cameraman was among the dead and a correspondent was wounded.

Further north in the separatist capital of Tskhinvali, houses were still burning on Tuesday, surrounded by orchards and chestnut groves, after the battles of the last week.—Reuters