SUKHUMI, July 9 (RIA Novosti) - Abkhaz Prime Minister Alexander Ankvab was hospitalized with minor wounds Monday after his car came under fire, the republic's interior minister said.
"On his way to Sukhumi, the prime minister came under automatic gunfire in his jeep in Gudaut [at 8:15 a.m.]," Otar Khetsiya said.
An investigation is underway.
It is the fourth attack against Ankvab, who was appointed premier of the breakaway republic in February 2005. Ankvab was first attacked two weeks after his appointment.
Another attack on the Abkhaz prime minister took place April 1, 2005, when his car came under fire in the village of Achadar, in the Sukhumi District.
Alkhaz Cholokua, the Abkhaz presidential spokesman, said Ankvab could return to his duties later Monday.
"I think Ankvab could resume his duties later today," Cholokua said. "The premier received minor wounds and suffered a concussion, but declined hospitalization after doctors in Gudaut rendered him emergency medical assistance."
Cholokua said the government had not yet considered tightening security measures in the republic. "The situation in general remains calm, and no instructions have been issued to take extra security measures," the spokesman said.
Stanislav Lakoba, Abkhaz Security Council secretary, said a professional assassin might have been responsible for the shooting. "The premier was wounded in the spine, though most of the fragments lodged in the seat," Lakoba said. "The prime minister's driver was injured."
Commenting on the attack, Akhmed Bilalov, head of the committee for CIS affairs at the upper house of Russia's parliament, said business interests alone were likely to be involved.
"This was not political. Business interests are the most likely motive," he said, adding that the murder of Abkhazia's prime minister or other ministers could not affect the alignment of political forces in the republic.
The latest reports said Abkhaz prosecutors have already opened a criminal case, with law enforcement personnel securing the scene.
"A reward [of 500,000 rubles ($19,000)] has been announced for any information that could help solve the criminal attack on Ankvab," Safarbei Mikanba, Abkhazia's Prosecutor General, said.
