European Union ceasefire monitors in Georgia said Sunday that they had come under fire near the rebel region of Abkhazia while investigating the killing of a police officer.

TBILISI, Oct 17, 2007 (AFP) - A border guard from Georgia's breakaway region of Abkhazia was killed in a shootout with Georgian police, the interior ministry said Thursday.

The clash broke out Wednesday as Georgian police attempted to prevent an Abkhazian man from passing a stolen car to Abkhaz border guards acting as his accomplices, according to ministry spokesman Shota Khizanishvili.

One of the Abkhaz border guards, Manuchar Arsba, was killed and a Georgian police officer was wounded, he said.

MOSCOW, Oct 17, 2007 (AFP) - The secessionist region of Abkhazia Wednesday accused Georgia of staging an attack on a border post, Russia's Ria-Novosti news agency reported.

A police official said the attack took place in the evening near the village of Taglan.

'A group of armed Georgians tried to capture a border post. Following an exchange of fire, our patrols repulsed the attack,' he said.

Abkhazia, a sliver of land between the Black Sea and the Caucasus mountains, broke away from Georgia after fierce fighting in 1992-93 and now has de facto independence.

UNITED NATIONS, Oct 15, 2007 (AFP) - The Security Council on Monday backed efforts to promote a peaceful settlement of the Georgian-Abkhazian conflict and extended the mandate of the UN mission in Georgia for another six months.

The 15-member council unanimously adopted a resolution that endorsed international efforts 'to promote a settlement of the Georgian-Abkhaz conflict only by peaceful means and within the framework of Security Council resolutions.'

UNITED NATIONS, Sept 21, 2007 (AFP) - UN chief Ban Ki-moon on Friday called for 'maximum restraint' after Georgian security forces were involved in a deadly firefight with separatist rebels in a disputed area near Georgia's breakaway region of Abkhazia.

'The Secretary General is concerned' by the reported incident which Thursday left two Abkhazian fighters dead and several wounded, his press office said in a statement.

Ban appealed to 'all parties to exercise maximum restraint and to prevent any further escalation of the situation'.

TBILISI, Sept 20, 2007 (AFP) - A gun battle between Georgian security forces and separatist rebels in a disputed area near Georgia's breakaway region of Abkhazia killed two people Thursday, officials said.

The battle marked a serious escalation in tensions in the region, where fighting is rare despite aggressive rhetoric on both sides.

Georgia's Minister for Conflict Resolution David Bakradze said two Abkhazian fighters were killed after Georgian forces opened fire on a group of rebels who had crossed into a Georgian-controlled area in the Kodori gorge.

TBILISI, Sept 6, 2007 (AFP) - Georgian President Mikheil Saakashvili on Thursday criticised UN Secretary General Ban Ki-moon for recommending Georgia shut down a youth camp near its breakaway region of Abkhazia.

'I want this to be heard by all bureaucrats at international organisations: We do not need hapless and immoral advice and friendly consultations where we are told that we need to move the camp away from the Abkhaz border,' Saakashvili said during a visit to the camp, according to a statement released by the presidential administration.

MOSCOW, Aug 25, 2007 (AFP) - Georgia's rebel province of Abkhazia on Saturday confirmed reports that a plane went down in the region this week, but denied it was a Russian aircraft, Russian news agencies reported.

Abkhaz officials were at odds over the plane's origins, with the region's top military official saying it may have been a US spy plane while the foreign minister said the plane was probably Georgian.

TBILISI, Aug 24, 2007 (AFP) - Georgia said Friday it had opened fire on an aircraft that had violated its airspace from the Russian-backed region of Abkhazia two days ago and that there were signs the plane had been downed.

The claim was likely to escalate tensions with Russia, which denied the Wednesday incident, following previous Georgian accusations this month that Russian planes had violated its border and dropped a missile near the capital, Tbilisi.

UNITED NATIONS, July 23, 2007 (AFP) - Georgia and its breakaway Abkhazia province should take concrete steps to improve cooperation in security, economic and humanitarian matters, UN chief Ban Ki-moon said in a report released Monday.

The report to the UN Security Council said 'both sides must now take concrete steps to implement the understandings' reached at a meeting last month of the 'Friends of Georgia' Group -- United States, Germany, Britain, France and Russia.