 Thousands of supporters of Abkhazia's opposition presidential candidate briefly seized the office of the outgoing leader Friday as tensions again spiked in the breakaway Georgian region nearly six weeks after a disputed — and still unresolved — election. Demonstrators supporting Sergei Bagapsh, who has claimed victory in the Oct. 3 election, stormed the headquarters of outgoing President Vladislav Ardzinba in the province's main city, Sukhumi, and occupied it for several hours. Russian television showed people waving Abkhazian flags from the windows and armed men celebrating with champagne and vodka in Ardzinba's office. Scattered fistfights were seen breaking out in the hallways. One man retreated in fear as a half-dozen others clawed at his clothing. Several people were reported injured. A woman who was wounded by a ricocheting bullet shot by guards at the building later died, the ITAR-Tass news agency reported, and several people received minor injuries.
| ... and a wonderful time was had by all, except for the dead lady. |
Ardzinba, who is sick, was at home when the seizure occurred.
The protesters cleared the building after Bagapsh, accompanied by his rival, Raul Khadzhimba, asked them to leave. Bagapsh told the crowd that Khadzhimba could join his government. "Khadzhimba was with me to prevent a confrontation, and together we calmed people down," Bagapsh told The Associated Press in a telephone interview. Bagapsh said that up to 20,000 of his supporters gathered near the parliament building, while a pro-Khadzhimba rally only drew several hundred people. |