Large Russian convoy heads for S.Ossetia

GORI, Georgia (Reuters) - A convoy of dozens of Russian tanks, armored personnel carriers (APC) and trucks headed north on Friday from central Georgia in the direction of South Ossetia, a Reuters correspondent reported.

"It's a long convoy. There must be more than 40 (vehicles)," the correspondent said.

The convoy was on the main east-west highway heading towards the town of Gori, just outside breakaway South Ossetia. Russian forces pulled out of the town on Friday under a French-brokered peace deal to end the Russia-Georgia conflict.

Russian forces had pushed into Georgia proper earlier this month after repelling a Georgian bid to retake the separatist South Ossetian capital, Tskhinvali.

They had dug in tanks and APCs and manned checkpoints at positions stretching as far as 45 kilometers (30 miles) from the Georgian capital, Tbilisi.

(Reporting by Margarita Antidze; writing by Matt Robinson; Editing by Jon Boyle)