Protesters have stormed the parliament of the Russian-backed breakaway Georgian region of Abkhazia and broken into the presidential administration offices in the building.
Video from the scene then showed people climbing through windows after prying off metal bars and chanting in the corridors. An opposition leader, Temur Gulia, said the protesters' initial demand was to scrap the agreement, but now they wanted to go further. The opposition said in a statement that the protesters' actions were not against Russian-Abkhazian relations, but charged that the president "has been trying to use these relations for his own selfish interests, manipulating them for the sake of strengthening his regime".
Abkhazian politicians had been set to vote on Friday on the ratification of an investment agreement signed in October in Moscow by Russian Economy Minister Maxim Reshetnikov and his Abkhazian counterpart, Kristina Ozgan. "Abkhazian society had only one demand: to protect the interests of our citizens and our business, but neither the president nor the parliament have heard the voice of the people until today," Interfax cited the statement as saying.Earlier this week Abkhazia's self-styled president, Aslan Bzhania, held an emergency security council meeting after protesters blocked a key highway and rallied in central Sukhumi to demand the release of four activists.
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