Abkhaz vice president poised to win polls

Vice president Alexander Ankvab has garnered majority of votes in Abkhazia's third presidential elections since breaking away from Georgia in the 90s, the Russian Interfax news agency reported on Saturday. Ankvab took more than 50 percent of the ballots, a result sufficient to win the contest in the first round, the Interfax said. More than 61 percent of electoral voters took part on Friday in the polling process, observed by 130 international observers. The polls were held following death of the ex-president Sergei Bagapsh following a recent lung surgery. Both the demised president and his successor are close to Moscow. Abkhazia broke away from Georgia in the 1990, a move recognized only by Russia, Venezuela, Nicaragua and the tiny Pacific island state of Nauru. Abkhazia's previous president, the 62-year-old Bagapsh, died in a Moscow hospital in May following lung surgery. His prime minister Sergei Shamba had ambitions to succeed him.