MOSCOW, August 26, SPA -- Russian President Dmitry Medvedev announced Tuesday he has signed a decree recognizing the independence of thebreakaway Georgian territories of South Ossetia andAbkhazia, the Associated Press reported. «This is not an easy choice but this is the only chanceto save people's lives,» Medvedev said in a televisedaddress a day after Russia's Kremlin-controlled parliamentvoted unanimously to support the diplomatic recognition.--SPA www.spa.gov.sa/585033