Roanoke Times
Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.
DATE: TUESDAY, September 28, 1993 TAG: 9309280086
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL PAGE: A-6 EDITION: METRO
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: TBILISI, GEORGIA LENGTH: Medium
Abkhazian forces fought their way to the center of the city and raised their flag over City Hall, Shevardnadze said in a message to his office in Tbilisi, the Georgian capital.
The fall of Sukhumi, the government's last stronghold in the coastal province of Abkhazia, gave the separatists virtually complete control of the region.
More than 3,000 people have been killed and 100,000 made homeless in the yearlong war, one of the ethnic conflicts rising in the ruins of the Soviet Union.
The Georgian government fears an Abkhazian victory could inspire other ethnic groups to revolt and could lead to civil war across the Caucusus Mountain region.
Andrei Soloviev, a 38-year-old Russian free-lance photographer on assignment for The Associated Press, was killed by a sniper during Monday's attack, according to Abkhazian officials.
The message from Shevardnadze blamed Russia for the defeat.
"Georgia lost an unequal battle," Shevardnadze was quoting as saying. "We could have saved Sukhumi yesterday, but only Russia could do this and we sent an appeal to Moscow for such help."
Although Russia has officially maintained neutrality in the conflict, Georgia's government has accused the Russian military of supplying arms and other aid to Abkhazia.
Shevardnadze's office said he was somewhere a few miles south of Sukhumi, but declined to say exactly where.
Shevardnadze's aides in Tbilisi said he might have to accept a Russian offer for evacuation, but would try to avoid that humiliating step.
The Abkhazian Foreign Ministry said in a statement Monday that it was ready to give Shevardnadze the opportunity to leave Abkhazia. Shevardnadze has not responded to either offer.
The region had a separate foreign ministry even before fighting began, under the Georgian government structure.
Russia has both ships and aircraft in the region and evacuated 10,000 civilian refugees Monday, the ITAR-Tass news agency said.
Russian President Boris Yeltsin ordered his Defense Ministry to give "maximum" assistance to get Shevardnadze safely out of the region, officials in Moscow said.
Georgia's parliament, which gave Shevardnadze special powers and disbanded itself two weeks ago, went back into emergency session Monday night.
The lawmakers were expected to approve Georgia's entry into the Commonwealth of Independent States, the loose association of former Soviet republics. Some hoped that joining the group would end Georgia's diplomatic isolation and bring help from other republics.
The Abkhazian conflict began when Shevardnadze sent Georgian troops into the province a year ago to root out supporters of his bitter rival, former Georgian President Zviad Gamsakhurdia.
Abkhazia had a peacetime population of 500,000, of which less than 20 percent were ethnic Abkhazians. The separatists say they want independence or to become part of neighboring Russia.
Abkhazia, on the Black Sea coast, was one of Georgia's most prosperous regions.
by CNB