Election officials yesterday counted ballots after Georgia's breakaway Abkhazia region held its first post-Soviet presidential election, a race in which all five candidates vowed to keep the separatist Black Sea resort area independent of Georgia.
Abkhazia has run its own affairs since 1993 when separatists drove out Georgian government troops, and it has cultivated close ties with Russia. Outgoing President Vladislav Ardzinba has led Abkhazia since it was an autonomous region inside the then-Soviet republic of Georgia.
The front-runner in the election was Prime Minister Raul Khadzhimba, backed by the outgoing Ardzinba and by neighboring Russia, but opposition candidate Sergei Bagapsh posed a strong challenge.
Sergei Smyr of the region's Central Election Committee said turnout was 63 to 65 percent.
An exit poll by the EGSUPD company showed Khadzhimba winning 56 percent, and Bagapsh trailing him with 25 percent, the Interfax news agency reported.
But Smyr insisted that the exit polling should not be considered official. Early official results were expected later yesterday.
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