Russia closes border with Georgia after conflict

Russian military vehicles coming from the direction of Tskhinvali head for the Russian border near the village of Verkhny Ruk August 18, 2008.

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Russia partially closed its border with Georgia on Tuesday to prevent "foreign terrorists" from entering Russia following this month's armed conflict with its small neighbor.

Russia's border with Georgia as well as Azerbaijan will remain closed for all those who are not citizens of the CIS, a Russian-led grouping of ex-Soviet states, said a decree signed by Prime Minister Vladimir Putin and published on Tuesday.

The temporary measure is aimed at preventing weapons smuggling and "members of foreign terrorist organizations" from entering Russia, said the decree published in the official Rossiiskaya Gazeta daily.

The decree said a portion of the border, where the Moscow-backed separatist Abkhazia region touches Russia, will remain open. Georgian border officials could not be reached for comment.

Months of tension between Georgia and Russia erupted on August 7 when Tbilisi launched an assault to retake its other Moscow-backed breakaway province of South Ossetia. Moscow responded by crushing Georgian forces.

Russian forces pushed beyond South Ossetia and Abkhazia, taking up positions deep inside Georgian territory.

Under a deal reached last week, the two agreed to pull their forces back to positions held before the outbreak of violence.

(Writing by Maria Golovnina, edited by Richard Meares)