Shoot-out on Georgian-Abkhazian border: 3 Georgians arrested

Three Georgian citizens have been arrested after a shoot-out on the Georgian-Abkhazian border. Police said they had illegally crossed the border and consider the whole incident as a provocation.

For their part, Georgia’s officials said Abkhaz gunmen opened fire on activists from a Georgian non-governmental organization after they held a media briefing against the parliamentary elections scheduled in Abkhazia for March 4, 2007.

Abkhazia said it considers the incident a provocation aimed at disrupting the elections.

The three men will be interrogated in the presence of UN representatives in Georgia.