Alliance turns down Russia's appeal for support

Russia’s hopes of international support over Georgia were dealt a blow today when an Asian security alliance denounced the use of force and called for respect for every country’s territorial integrity.

The joint declaration from the Shanghai Co-operation Organisation, seen by many Western observers as an Eastern counter to Nato, deepens Russia’s international isolation over its military action.

The declaration said the presidents of the SCO countries reaffirmed their commitment to “efforts aimed at preserving the unity of a state and its territorial integrity.”

The declaration also said “placing the emphasis exclusively on the use of force has no prospects and hinders a comprehensive settlement of local conflicts”.

Russia’s president Dmitry Medvedev had appealed to the leaders of China and four Central Asian countries for their support in the escalating crisis.

His call came in the middle of Western uproar over what it sees as Russia’s excessive use of force in the Georgian war.

Europe and the US have also criticised Russia’s stationing of troops in what it has called security zones near two separatist regions, South Ossetia and Abkhazia, as well as Moscow’s formal recognition of those regions.