TBILISI (AFP) - Georgia's pro-Western President Mikheil Saakashvili criticised Sunday separatist authorities in the breakaway province of Abkhazia for holding what he called "illegal" elections.

About 130,000 people were eligible to vote in Sunday's election to the 35-seat parliament of Abkhazia, which is located in northwest Georgia by the Black Sea and is not recognized internationally.

Abkhazia is one of two separatist territories in ex-Soviet Georgia that are flashpoints in wider geopolitical tensions, the other being South Ossetia.

Both have de facto backing from Moscow, although Russia officially recognizes Georgia's territorial integrity.

Several thousand people died and an estimated 250,000 people were forced from their homes in the 1992-1993 separatist conflict over Abkhazia.

Saakashvili, who is also at odds with Moscow over his goal of joining NATO, denounced the Abkhaz administration during a televised visit to a military base being built at Gori, northwest of Tbilisi.

The election is "illegal" and the results "will not be recognized by anyone, because between 400,000-500,000 (ethnic Georgian) people were driven out of Abkhazia with the support of foreigners," he said, alluding to Russian support to separatist fighters.

Georgians ejected from Abkhazia during fighting in the 1990s would not be reconciled to their loss, he said, displaying a photograph of children killed when rebels attacked a helicopter evacuated them.

"A new generation has grown up in Georgia that doesn't plan to compromise with separatism and the use of force," Saakashvili said.

"Our enemies want us and those people forced from their homes to forget and accept it but this isn't happening and won't happen," he said. He added: "We don't want a new conflict. Our future is in a multi-ethnic Georgia where the rights of all citizens are respected."

Abkhazia's leader, president Sergei Bagapsh, said the election was being conducted according to international standards, as he visited the Gali district that borders the rest of Georgia and is mainly populated by ethnic Georgians.

"Although Georgia has tried everything to frighten the local population in Gali, people are going to the polls and participating," Bagapsh was quoted by Interfax as saying.

"So far the elections are going calmly in accordance with all democratic norms," he said.

Officials at the Abkhaz administration in Sukhumi declined to comment on the election when contacted by AFP by telephone from Tbilisi.

Moscow has peacekeepers in both Abkhazia and South Ossetia and has given out Russian passports to most residents.

Of the two separatist territories, Abkhazia is considered by analysts to have a better chance of survival, having a port, a tourism industry and a larger population.

On Sunday, at the border with Abkhazia several hundred opponents of the separatist administration continued a demonstration, after camping around a bonfire overnight and a larger protest on Saturday, local reporters said.

"No one is voting -- neither Abkhaz or Georgians. Bagapsh had to go to Gali to raise the level of activity," said protest leader Paata Shamugia, an official for the Gali district appointed by Tbilisi, speaking by telephone.

Earlier Abkhaz officials warned that their forces would fire on demonstrators if they crossed a river into Abkhaz territory.