Georgian's family home destroyed in conflict

"I have many relatives in Georgia - some are wounded and others are still unaccounted for"

When Kathuna Illurdize picks up the phone to call her family in Georgia, she braces herself for the news.

In the past few days she has found out that her family home in Gori was completely destroyed and her cousin - a 27-year-old soldier - seriously injured.

"They have already operated on him, but he needs more interventions," she said.

Ms Illurdize's mother and brother fled Gori at the beginning of the Russia-Georgia conflict for the Georgian capital Tbilisi, where they are staying, together with some 30 others, in a three-roomed house belonging to her uncle. Her father stayed behind in war-torn Gori.

"My mother and brother left Gori because my brother has a young baby, but my father remained at home. But our house has been completely destroyed," said the 31-year-old, who has been living in Malta for the past two years.

"I have many relatives in Georgia - some are wounded and others are still unaccounted for," she said, her voice hoarse with worry.

"There are dead people and nobody is allowed to pick them up. I am worried that there are some of my relatives or friends among them."

She described the difficulties in making contact with her family. "There were times when I was not able to get through because of damage to the telephone lines."

Although Russia ordered a halt to military operations on Tuesday, Ms Illurdize is very concerned that fighting will restart. "It is not clear what is happening. I am very worried."

She expressed her wish to go to Georgia to see for herself the situation in her country and to see her family - who do not have any plans to leave.

The Maltese have been very helpful to some of the Georgians living here, she noted.

The conflict is also of concern for the Malta-based European Institute of Education, which has a campus in Tbilisi. Institute president Antonello Cappitta said it was expected that next October's intake will suffer because of the conflict.

The institute opened a campus in the Georgian capital last March and has 80 students from around the world, mainly from the Far East, taking Bachelor's courses in business and administration, marketing and finance.

"We were very concerned during the days of the conflict," Mr Cappitta said, although he added that the institute would "definitely" continue its operation in Georgia and had no intention of folding.

Mr Cappitta said although the campus was not affected, there was still concern among the staff, students and their families.

"We were constantly receiving calls from the students' families because they were very worried about them."