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| - The president of breakaway Abkhazia called for calm on Thursday after supporters of an opposition leader reportedly seized his presidential administration's building in the Russian-backed region. Russian press agencies said opposition protesters stormed the offices of President Raul Khajimba in the capital of Abkhazia, a tiny separatist region of Georgia whose independence is only recognised by a handful of countries. "I call on you to keep calm, not to give in to provocations," Khajimba was quoted as saying in a statement on his official website after holding an emergency meeting of his security council. He added that he could declare a state of emergency in response to the protests in Sukhumi, the Black Sea coast capital. "Law enforcement agencies have been put on heightened alert. If necessary, I will take measures to bring in a state of emergency in the country," he said. The situation was described as an "attempted coup" by the presidential administration in a statement to Russian news agency Interfax. Demonstrators supporting opposition leader Alkhas Kvitsiniya are calling for new elections. The protests come as Kvitsiniya is contesting the result of September presidential election, which he narrowly lost to Khajimba, at the Supreme Court. United Abkhazia opposition party, which backed Kvitsiniya's candidacy, had called for supporters to gather in Sukhumi on Thursday morning. Russia's Sputnik Abkhazia news agency reported that crowds of opposition protesters stormed the presidential administration's building on Thursday afternoon, breaking down doors and smashing windows. It published photographs of protesters filling corridors, carpets littered with papers and furniture overturned in offices. The Russian Embassy in Sukhumi said on Facebook that opposition supporters had stormed the building and advised Russians to avoid the area of the protests while saying the situation in the rest of the city was stable. Khajimba told Interfax on Thursday afternoon that "I am in Sukhumi at work in a building of the state authorities," while his press service told the agency that he was at a presidential residence in the city. Kvitsiniya won 46.17 percent of votes in the second round of presidential polls while Khajimba took 47.39 percent, according to official figures. Abkhazia is internationally recognised as part of ex-Soviet Georgia, but Russia sees it as a separate country -- along with South Ossetia -- following a brief war in 2008 with Tbilisi. Georgia and its Western allies have condemned Russia's continued "occupation" of its territory and have demanded the Kremlin reverse its recognition of Abkhazia and South Ossetia. am/klm
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