Officials in Georgia's breakaway region of Abkhazia say that suspects arrested in connection with the attempted assassination of separatist leader Aleksandr Ankvab have confessed.
Officials said three detained suspects have told investigators that they tried to kill the president twice -- including the most recent attempt in February that left two of Ankvab's bodyguards dead.
Last week, a fourth man suspected of involvement in the plot was found hanged in his jail cell, and the separatists' former Interior Minister Almazbei Kchach died of an apparent self-inflicted gunshot wound as police were preparing to detain him as a suspect in the case.
Officials say the search for other suspects is continuing.
Ankvab, elected in August, has vowed to fight corruption and crime in the separatist territory.
With reporting by ITAR-TASS