Alexander Ankvab
© The Associated Press/Mikhail Metzel Alexander Ankvab
Unidentified assassins tried Wednesday to kill the president of Abkhazia, a Russian-backed rebel Georgian enclave, employing automatic rifles, grenade launchers and a powerful roadside bomb in an assault that raised fresh questions about Moscow's ability to preserve order there.

The president, Alexander Ankvab, survived the attack without injury, but at least one bodyguard died and two more were seriously wounded. It was the sixth attempt on Ankvab's life in less than a decade, a testament to the volatility of Abkhazia.

Reached by telephone at his office in Abkhazia's capital, Ankvab's voice was faint and shaky.

"I'm sorry, I can't talk right now, especially about this topic," he said. The attack was likely to provoke new anxiety in Moscow, which has been struggling to damper recent political tremors in Abkhazia and another breakaway Georgian enclave, South Ossetia.

Officials in Abkhazia had no immediate information on possible suspects in the attack. Ankvab took office in August and immediately began a campaign against criminal groups that he alleged had infiltrated government agencies.