First president of Abkhazia dies in Moscow hospital

The first president of Abkhazia, Vladislav Ardzinba, died aged 64 in a Moscow hospital early on Thursday after a long illness, ITAR-TASS said.
 
The former president was flown to Moscow in a Russian emergencies ministry plane on February 26 and taken to the city’s Central Clinic after his condition worsened.
 
A well known Soviet historian specializing in the Hittites, Ardzinba was elected chairman of the Supreme Soviet of Abkhazia in 1990. He became president of Abkhazia in 1994, and won reelection in 1999. He was forced to leave his post by illness in 2004. His resignation and the subsequent presidential elections saw a protracted political crisis in Abkhazia.