14 December 2009 / REUTERS, SUKUMI
The rebel Georgian region of Abkhazia re-elected President Sergei Bagapsh, preliminary election results showed on Sunday, in a vote hailed by protector Russia but shunned by most of the world.
Abkhazia held its first election on Saturday since Moscow recognized the Black Sea territory as an independent state after a brief war with Georgia last year. The vote was branded a farce by Georgia. Bagapsh secured 59.37 of the vote, almost four times that of second-placed former KGB agent Raul Khadzimba on 15.44 percent, the central election commission said. Russian election observers said voting was fair and transparent, but Khadzimba complained of widespread irregularities and threatened to challenge the result. Brief volleys of celebratory gunfire greeted the result in the sleepy seaside capital, Sukhumi. The election was seen as a test of stability in Abkhazia, which threw off Georgian rule in a vicious 1992-93 war.
