Related: Georgia appoints acting PM following Zhvania's death
Putin sends condolences on Georgian PM's death

Zurab Zhvania, Georgian Prime Minister, speaks in his study in Tbilisi, in this Aug. 5, 2004 file picture. Georgian Prime Minister Zurab Zhvania was killed apparently by natural-gas poisoning in a friend's apartment in Tbilisi, the Interfax news agency reported Thursday. (AP Photo)

    MOSCOW, Feb. 3 (Xinhuanet) -- Georgian Prime Minister Zurab Zhvania was killed apparently by natural-gas poisoning in a friend's apartment in Tbilisi, the Interfax news agency reported Thursday.

    Zhvania, accompanied by his security guards, went to his friend's home, Georgian Interior Minister Vano Merabishvili said at a news briefing.

    As the prime minister did not respond to his guards' telephone calls, they broke into the apartment at 04:30 (0130 GMT) in the morning and found Zhvania and his friend dead, Merabishvili said.

    Zhvania, 41, was appointed Georgian prime minister by President Mikhail Saakashvili in February 2004.

    It was believed that they were poisoned by household gas, the report quoted Merabishvili as saying.

    "Zhvania was found slumped over a table in a room, and his friend was found in the kitchen," the minister said, adding that their bodies have been taken to a lab for examination.

    Preliminary information indicates that it was an Iranian-made heater installed in the apartment that leaked household gas.

    The Georgian government is to hold an extraordinary meeting over the issue. Zhvania is the closest ally of President Saakashvili.

    At the news, president of the self-proclaimed republic of Abkhazia Sergei Bagapsh suggested that the Georgian prime minister's death will lead to new tensions in the Georgian-Abkhaz conflict zone.

    "This is Georgia's internal affair, and it is up to Georgian law enforcement agencies to investigate the death of their premier," said Bagapsh.

    Abkhazia is legally a province of Georgia, but has proclaimed independence following a conflict in the early 1990s. Georgian President Saakashvili has been making efforts to restore control over Abkhazia.

    Zhvania was one of the key government figures trying to negotiate settlements with Abkhazia and South Ossetia regions and favored a peaceful settlement of the conflict.

    Zhvania, born in Tbilisi on Dec. 9, 1963, graduated from the biology department at Tbilisi State University. A lawmaker since 1992, Zhvania became parliamentary speaker in 1995. Enditem