SUKHUMI, October 17 (RIA Novosti) - The Georgian breakaway republic of Abkhazia has scheduled command and staff military exercise for October 23-26 to practice repelling an enemy attack, an Abkhaz military official said Tuesday.

Anatoly Zaitsev, head of the General Staff of the Abkhaz Defense Ministry, said the exercise will focus particularly on repelling an amphibious assault along its coast. He added the exercise will be conducted under his personal command.

Abkhazia is located to the north of Georgia, along the Black Sea coast, and has strained relations with the ex-Soviet republic. A bloody conflict between Georgia and Abkhazia erupted in the early 1990s following the collapse of the Soviet Union. It was suspended by a ceasefire agreement that introduced peacekeeping troops from the former Soviet republics, including Russia, into the separatist area.

The Abkhazian intention to hold the exercise comes after a statement by Mikheil Saakashvili, the Western-leaning and U.S.-educated president of Georgia, calling on fellow Georgians living in Russia to return to Georgia and help rebuild Abkhazia.

"We are prepared to return to Abkhazia and we need your help rebuilding the country," Saakashvili said.