Next president of Abkhazia to be elected today

As the AFP reports voters in Abkhazia went to the polls Friday to elect their third leader in the tumultuous period since it broke from Georgia in the 1990s in a move recognized only by Moscow and a handful of states.

The snap elections follow the death of its veteran president Sergei Bagapsh after lung surgery earlier this year and will be viewed as illegitimate by most of the world.

Polls opened at around 0400 GMT with a small but steady stream of voters heading to the ballot box in early morning voting and no immediate signs of disturbances, an AFP correspondent reported.

Symbolically, the vote coincides with the third anniversary of Moscow's recognition of Abkhazia and South Ossetia as independent states, which followed Russia's five-day war with Georgia in 2008.

After Abkhazia's previous president, the 62-year-old Bagapsh, died in a Moscow hospital in May following lung surgery, his prime minister Sergei Shamba is seeking to take over his job.

Two challengers -- vice-president Alexander Ankvab and opposition leader Raul Khajimba -- are taking him on in the polls that are unlikely to signal a major shift in policies or put an end to Abkhazia's isolation.