Abkhazia's leader dies in Russia after surgery

Abkhazia's leader dies in Russia after surgery

2011-05-30 02:09:37 GMT+7 (ICT)

MOSCOW (BNO NEWS) -- Abkhaz President Sergei Bagapsh died in Moscow following a lung surgery, RIA Novosti reported on Sunday.

Bagapsh, 62, was put on a ventilator earlier this week after his lungs failed, following surgery on his right lung in a Moscow hospital on May 21. According to an official spokesman for the Abkhaz president, Bagapsh died of cancer.

"Doctors have admitted that malignant tumors affected his lung and spread to other organs. Doctors now acknowledge that this was cancer," spokesman Kristian Bzhania said.

Bagapsh's mourning ceremony will be held in Moscow on Monday, after which his body will be flown to Abkhazia where he will be buried in the village of Dzhgerda in the Ochamchira district.

According to the Kremlin press office, Russian President Dmitry Medvedev expressed his condolences over the death of the Abkhaz leader .

"Bagapsh was an advocate of friendship and alliance with Russia and arduously worked on deepening close bilateral ties between our countries," Medvedev said in a message.

Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin is expected to attend the mourning ceremony.

Abkhazia and another Georgian breakaway republic, South Ossetia, were recognized by Russia as independent states in 2008 following a five-day war, which started when Georgia attacked South Ossetia in an attempt to bring it back under central control.

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