BUSH SPEAKS BY PHONE WITH BURJANADZE

President Bush spoke by phone from his Texas ranch with Georgia's interim President Nino Burjanadze on November 26, said White House Deputy Press Secretary Claire Buchan.

Bush "noted that the transfer of authority in Georgia was handled without resort to violence and that the new leaders moved quickly to call presidential elections in accordance with the Georgian constitution."

The president reiterated U.S. support "for Georgia's sovereignty, independence and territorial integrity, as well as for Georgia's program of democratic and free market reforms," Buchan said.

The United States will dispatch a delegation to Georgia, to assess Georgia's needs and what the international community can do to support Georgia's reforms.