A man sweeps the road near a poster of one of three presidential candidates Sergei Shamba's in Sukhumi capital of Georgian breakaway region of Abkhazia, Wednesday, August 24, 2011. (AP/Mikhail Metzel)
MOSCOW, Russia — The prime minister of Georgia’s separatist republic of Abkhazia died in a car crash late Saturday, the local government said.
Gennady Gaguliya, 70, was killed in a crash on the road between Psou in the south of Russia and Sukhumi in the breakaway region, according to a statement on the Abkhazia cabinet website.
Russia’s TASS news agency reported Gaguliya was traveling in a delegation returning from Syria. His driver and security guards were not injured, the news agency quoted a government spokesperson as saying.
The republic is led by president Raul Khajimba.
Moscow became one of the few capitals to recognize the independence of Abkhazia, along with breakaway republic South Ossetia, following a Russia-Georgia war a decade ago.
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Russian President Vladimir Putin welcomes Prime Minister of the disputed republic of Abkhazia, Gennady Gagulia, right, and Georgian leader Eduard Shevardnadze, left, during their meeting in Russia’s presidential residence in Bocharov Ruchei, near the Russian Black Sea resort of Sochi Thursday night, March 6, 2003. (AP/ITAR-TASS, Presidential Press Service )
The two regions constitute 20 percent of Georgia’s territory.
Georgia and its Western allies have condemned Russia’s continued “occupation” of its territory and have demanded the Kremlin reverse its recognition of Abkhazia and South Ossetia.
Georgia and its Soviet-era master Moscow have long been at loggerheads over Tbilisi’s bid to join the European Union and NATO, with the spiraling confrontation culminating in a full-blown war in August 2008.
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Russia stationed permanent military bases in the breakaway regions after the conflict.
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