The United States has dismissed elections in Georgia's breakaway region of Abkhazia as illegitimate.
The AFP news agency quoted State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland on August 29 as saying that the United States "does not recognize the legitimacy or the results of the August 26 so-called elections in the Abkhazia region of Georgia."
In the poll on at the weekend, which was widely seen as flawed, Abkhazia elected Aleksandr Ankvab -- a top politician who advocates firm ties with Russia -- as the new president of the rebel Georgian region.
Abkhazia broke away from Georgia after a devastating civil war in the 1990s. But its independence claim has only been recognized by Russia and a handful of far-flung states following Moscow's 2008 war with Georgia.
Compiled from agency reports
The AFP news agency quoted State Department spokeswoman Victoria Nuland on August 29 as saying that the United States "does not recognize the legitimacy or the results of the August 26 so-called elections in the Abkhazia region of Georgia."
In the poll on at the weekend, which was widely seen as flawed, Abkhazia elected Aleksandr Ankvab -- a top politician who advocates firm ties with Russia -- as the new president of the rebel Georgian region.
Abkhazia broke away from Georgia after a devastating civil war in the 1990s. But its independence claim has only been recognized by Russia and a handful of far-flung states following Moscow's 2008 war with Georgia.
Compiled from agency reports