Abkhazia: Russia can use old Soviet base

SUKHUMI, Georgia, Oct. 17 (UPI) -- The foreign minister of the breakaway Georgian region of Abkhazia said Friday that Russia will get no new bases there.

About 4,000 troops will be in the region, the Novosti news agency reported. Abkhazian officials say they will be based at Gudauta, a former Soviet airbase.

"We assume that derelict military bases in Abkhazia should be brought back to life to house the Russian military," the minister, Sergei Shamba, said.

Abkhazia and South Ossetia declared independence after Georgia sent troops to South Ossetia in an effort to bring the region back under its control and Russia responded by sending forces across the border. Only Russia recognizes the two as independent, and Georgia still claims them as part of its territory.

Shamba said that observers from the European Union are not welcome in Abkhazia.

"The EU is now on Georgian territory, they want to spread their observers to our territory. We will not agree to that," he said.