SUKHUM. April 2 (Interfax) - Badra Gunba was officially sworn in as president of Abkhazia at a ceremony in the grand hall of the government compound in Sukhum in the presence of representatives of the legislative, executive and judicial branches of government, Abkhaz Central Elections Commission members and guests.
Gunba took the oath of office in the Abkhaz language, placing his hand on the text of the republic's constitution,
Parliament speaker Lasha Ashuba then presented Gunba with the presidential symbols, including a banner, a seal, a sword, which symbolizes the president's role as the supreme commander-in-chief of Abkhazia's Armed Forces, and a traditional Abkhaz crook, which symbolizes wisdom and discipline.
The inauguration ceremony was attended by South Ossetian President Alan Gagloyev, Russian Presidential Executive Office first deputy head Sergei Kiriyenko, Russian State Duma Deputy Chairman Pyotr Tolstoy, head of the State Duma's Defense Committee Andrei Kartopolov, the governors of a number of Russian regions, the ambassadors of Russia, Nicaragua, Venezuela and South Ossetia, a representative of the unrecognized Transdniestrian Moldovan Republic, and representatives of the Abkhaz ethnic community abroad.