US warship heads to Georgian port with humanitarian aid

0 Comments | AFP, August, 2008

ISTANBUL (AFP) — One of three US ships carrying relief supplies to Georgia cleared Turkish straits and headed for the Black Sea Friday, where it was due to arrive in the Georgian port of Poti in a few days.

The two other ships -- the Coast Guard cutter Dallas and the Mount Whitney, currently being loaded up in an Italian port -- are also bound for Georgia with humanitarian aid.

Several dozen people opposing McFaul's passage gathered on the European side of the Bosphorus brandishing signs reading "Yankee go home," and "We will not abandon this country to the Americans," in a demonstration organised by Turkey's Communist party.

Washington announced Wednesday that Turkey had given the green light for the Black Sea passage of the ships, which are carrying...