The prime minister of the self-proclaimed Republic of Abkhazia, Alexander Ankvab, was the target of a Fugas remote-control bomb, a group of Abkhaz academics and intellectuals alleged in a statement on June 27, reported Civil Georgia.  The landmine went off in the early hours of June 20, near Novy Aphon to the west of Sokhumi after the spot where the mine was buried was hit by thunder. No casualties were reported; meanwhile the Interior Minister Otar Khatsia claimed that it had been an assassination attempt. An investigation is pending, however, a statement signed by 27 leading Abkhaz authors, writers, journalists and academics asserted that the blast was aimed at current Abkhaz authorities and, in particular, the Prime Minister Alexander Ankvab.

On June 20, Abkhaz Interior Minister Khatsia said that investigators were working on several leads. Georgian-masterminded sabotage operations on the eve of the tourism season in Abkhazia were considered to be one distinct possibility, reported Civil Georgia.

In February 2005 Ankvab survived an assassination attempt when a group of unknown gunmen opened fire on his convoy outside Sokhumi. Although criminal elements were blamed for the attack, no one was arrested.

This information was originally published June 28, 2007 (www.civil.ge)