US ships carrying aid for Georgia to go through straits

A US destroyer and a coast guard ship – the USS McFaul and US Coast Guard Cutter Dallas, both carrying humanitarian aid – will today pass through the Turkish Straits en route to war-torn Georgia. Following US assurances that it has no intention of seeking changes to the international Montreux Convention, which regulates traffic in the Straits, Turkey granted access to the US military ships to pass through its waters to carry the aid.