Russia says withdrawal to take time

By Oleg Shchedrov and Matt Robinson

SOCHI/TBILISI (Reuters) - Russia signed a peace deal to end the conflict in Georgia on Saturday but said "extra security measures" were needed before it could begin withdrawing its troops.

The blowing-up of a key rail bridge, blamed by Georgia on Russian forces, forced Azerbaijan to suspend oil exports by railway to ports in western Georgia -- a reminder of the sensitivity of the conflict in a key energy transit region.

President Dmitry Medvedev added his signature to a French peace plan already endorsed by Georgia and by leaders of its two rebel regions of South Ossetia and Abkhazia.

President George W. Bush said it was a "hopeful step" but that Moscow must now pull its forces out. France said the peace deal did not allow Russia to occupy Georgian towns.

But Russian forces continued to move around in parts of Georgia far outside Abkhazia and South Ossetia, the flashpoint that triggered a six-day war between the two countries.

Georgia's foreign ministry accused Abkhazian "armed gangs" and Russian army units of occupying more than a dozen Georgian villages south of the Abkhaz border, as well as a hydro power plant on the Enguri river.

"There are cases of physical abuse and looting," it said.

The ministry said Russian military aircraft had also dropped bombs to set fire to large areas of Georgian forest. No independent verification was immediately available.

Russian Foreign Minister Sergei Lavrov said withdrawal of Moscow's forces would depend on extra security measures ordered by Medvedev, the nature of which was not made clear.

Asked how long the withdrawal might take, Lavrov told reporters: "This does not just depend on us". He blamed the difficult situation on the ground for delays.

SARKOZY LETTER

The French-led agreement drafted this week authorizes Russian forces to take "additional security measures" on a temporary basis pending the arrival of international peacekeepers, which requires a U.N. Security Council resolution.

However, French President Nicolas Sarkozy wrote in a letter to Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili that this did not allow for a Russian military presence in any "major urban centre" of Georgia.

"These 'additional security measures' can only be implemented in the immediate proximity of South Ossetia, to the exclusion of any other part of Georgian territory," he wrote.

Russian troops withdrew from an area 45 km (30 miles) from the Georgian capital on Saturday afternoon and a foreign military observer said it appeared a partial pullout might be underway, although that was not officially confirmed.