Leader of Russia-backed Georgian region resigns to become Putin adviser

TBILISI, June 23 - The leader of South Ossetia, a breakaway region of Georgia that is backed by Russia, said on Tuesday that he is resigning to become an adviser to Russian President Vladimir Putin.

In an address published on a South Ossetian government website, Alan Gagloyev said he was resigning with immediate effect to take up a job in Russia's presidential administration, and handing over the presidency to his prime minister.

He said he would be helping to implement a treaty signed between South Ossetia and Russia last year, which he said would bring forward what he said was a "cherished dream" of the tiny territory's incorporation into Russia.

South Ossetia, which has a population of around 50,000, first broke away from Georgia amid the collapse of the Soviet Union in the early 1990s, securing de facto independence with Russian backing.

In 2008, Russia and Georgia fought a brief war over the territory, with Georgian forces driven from parts of South Ossetia they had previously controlled.

Russia and a handful of other countries subsequently recognised both it and Abkhazia, another breakaway Georgian region, as independent states.

Successive South Ossetian leaders have repeatedly said they want the territory to become part of Russia in future, but both local authorities and Moscow have stopped short of holding a vote on annexation. REUTERS