Abkhaz leader Sergey Bagapsh warned he would sack the leadership of law enforcement agencies if an investigation into the assassination attempt on Prime Minister Alexander Ankvab did not produce results within two weeks, Apsnipress news agency reported on July 10.

“This case should be resolved in two weeks, otherwise we will say goodbye to the people who do not know how to do their jobs,” Apsnipress quoted Bagapsh as saying.

Bagapsh, who cut short his visit to Moscow after the July 9 attack on Ankvab, lashed out at law enforcement agencies for a failure to successfully investigate previous attempts on Ankvab's life. 

“This recent case is a logical result of the poor performance of the law enforcement agencies, which have failed to bring any prosecutions,” Bagapsh said, “We should put aside all speculation and forget the witch-hunt.”

The president, backtracking on earlier comments, said that the assassination attempt was politically-motivated and not “a settling of scores between criminals, as some have described it.”

“Those [behind the assassination attempt] tried to kill not only Ankvab, but our statehood too,” the Abkhaz leader said.

Initially, Bagapsh described the July 9 attack on Ankvab as an attempt by “certain groups” to hinder on-going reforms and the fight against organized crime.

In the two previous assassination attempts on Ankvab in 2005, Bagapsh blamed “criminal elements.”