MOSCOW. Nov 9 (Interfax-AVN) - Abkhazia's Defense Minister Vyacheslav Eshba has said that military units of the self-proclaimed republic are still kept on high alert.
"Regular army units are being kept on high alert to discourage a possible Georgian invasion while the domestic political situation in Abkhazia is complicated," Eshba told Interfax-Military News Agency on Tuesday.
Commenting on media reports about his possible resignation, Eshba said he has received no instructions on that score. "I am continuing to do my job and wonder who might cash in on rumors about my replacement," he said.
Media outlets reported on Monday that Mukhamed Kilba, a Hero of Abkhazia and participant in the Georgian-Abkhaz conflict of 1992-1993, had been appointed the republic's defense minister. Kilba is a deputy head of the election headquarters of Raul Khajimba, who is running for Abkhaz president.
Abkhazia, a breakaway province of Georgia, held its presidential elections on October 3. The election commission declared Sergei Bagapsh the winner, but the other front runner, Raul Khajimba, filed a complaint against the results. The Supreme Court on October 29 at first upheld the voting results, but later invalidated them. Following this, incumbent President Vladislav Ardzinba called a new election.