Ifax says Georgia and S.Ossetia agree truce

MOSCOW (Reuters) - Georgia and South Ossetian separatists agreed on a truce in the troubled province until they hold Russian-mediated talks, Interfax news agency quoted the head of Russian peacekeepers in the region as saying.

Interfax quoted Marat Kulakhmetov as saying that shelling, blamed by both sides on each other, had ceased in the past four hours. Kulakhmetov said Georgian statements earlier on Thursday were part of the deal.

Earlier, Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili offered the separatists an immediate ceasefire after several days of clashes which aroused fears of all-out war and said he had ordered government forces not to return fire.

A senior Georgian official said in Tbilisi the fighting had stopped. However, he added there had been no formal agreement between the two sides.

(Additional reporting by Matt Robinson in Tbilisi)

(Writing by Oleg Shchedrov; editing by Andrew Dobbie)