GEORGIA-ABKHAZIA-RUSSIA-CONFLICT-VOTE

A soldier votes during Abkhazia’s presidential elections at a polling station in Sukhumi on August 26, 2011. Voters in rebel Abkhazia went to the polls to elect a third leader in the tumultuous period since it broke from Georgia in the 1990s in a move recognised only by Moscow and a handful of states. The snap elections follow the death of veteran president Sergei Bagapsh after lung surgery earlier this year and will be viewed as illegitimate by most of the world. AFP PHOTO / MIKHAIL MORDASOV