MOSCOW, Feb. 3 (Xinhuanet) -- The Georgian government has appointed Deputy Prime Minister Giorgi Baramidze acting prime minister following the death of Zurab Zhvania, Georgian government office chief Petre Mamradze told reporters on Thursday.

    Interior Minister Vano Merabishvili had said, Prime Minister Zurab Zhvania apparently died of natural-gas poisoning at 4:30 a.m.local time (0130 GMT Thursday in his friend's apartment.

    Since Zhvania did not answer his telephone for a long period, his bodyguard broke through the window ... and found Zhvania and deputy governor of Kvemo Kartli region Raul Yusupov dead in Yusupov's apartment, the Russian media quoted the minister as saying.

    Experts have not found any signs of violence on the bodies of Zhvania and Yusupov, said Levan Chachua, chief of the Georgian National Expert Examination Bureau's forensic medical examination service.

    Zhvania's death was caused by carbon monoxide poisoning, experts said. Enditem