GEORGIA- ABKHAZIA-ANNIVERSARY

Sailors from Georgia’s rebel region of Abkhazia’s navy march during a military parade to mark the 17th anniversary of Abkhazia’s independence in the region’s capital Sukhumi on September 30, 2010. Abkhaz separatists waged a civil war with Georgia in the 1990s after the break-up of the Soviet Union that killed several thousand people and left 250,000, mostly ethnic Georgians, as refugees. Georgia insists that Abkhazia is an integral part of its territory but Russia has recognised it and South Ossetia as independent states following its brief conflict with Georgia in 2008. AFP PHOTO / IBRAGIM CHKADUA