Blasts Reportedly Shake Abkhazian Capital (former USSR)

[bin.dare]

http://www.guardian.co.uk/worldlatest/story/0,1280,-4656344,00.html

TBILISI, Georgia (AP) - Four explosions shook the capital of Georgia's breakaway region of Abkhazia early Monday but caused no casualties or damage, the Interfax news agency reported, a day after the two candidates vying for the region's presidency agreed to conduct new elections and run on a joint ticket.

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The surprise agreement between Bagapsh and former Prime Minister Raul Khadzhimba on Sunday followed a promise by Bagapsh to hold his own inauguration - a move that had threatened to stoke already high tensions in the mostly Muslim Black Sea province.

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Abkhazia has run its own affairs since 1993, when separatists drove out Georgian government troops, and has cultivated close ties with Russia.

The region's independence is not recognized internationally, and Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili, who has vowed to bring Abkhazia and other separatist regions under control, has called the presidential election illegal.