Bush says attacks on Georgia "dangerous escalation"
(Adds additional Bush remarks, phone calls, background)
BEIJING, Aug 9 (Reuters) - U.S. President George W. Bush said on Saturday attacks by Russia on neighbouring Georgia outside the war zone of South Ossetia marked a "dangerous escalation" of the crisis and urged Moscow to halt the bombing immediately.
"I'm deeply concerned about the situation in Georgia," Bush said during a trip to the Olympics in Beijing. "The attacks are occurring in regions of Georgia far from the zone of conflict in South Ossetia. They mark a dangerous of escalation in the crisis."
He said the attacks were threatening peace in the region and that pro-Western Georgia, a former Soviet state that now wants to join NATO, was a sovereign nation and its territorial integrity must be respected.
Russian bombers widened their attacks on Georgia on Saturday after troops poured into South Ossetia on Friday, a move to counter a large-scale offensive by Georgia that was aimed at restoring control over the province it lost after a war in the early 1990s.
"We call for an end to the Russian bombings," a grim-faced Bush told reporters before heading to the Olympics women's basketball game between the United States and the Czech Republic.
He also urged both sides to halt the violence as well as return to the status quo of Aug. 6 before the fighting began and he called both Russian President Dmitry Medvedev and Georgia President Mikheil Saakashvili to reiterate his position.
"The United States is working with our European partners to launch international mediation and with the parties to restart their dialogue," Bush said. "Russia needs to support these efforts so peace can be restored as quickly as possible."
Russian officials said the death toll now stood at 1,500 and 30,000 refugees from South Ossetia had fled to Russia over the past 36 hours. Russia said two of its warplanes had been shot down and 12 of its soldiers had been killed. (Reporting by Jeremy Pelofsky and Matt Spetalnick in Beijing; editing by Keith Weir)
