SUKHUMI, Georgia, March 4 (Reuters) - Georgia's rebel region of Abkhazia voted in a parliamentary election on Sunday that Tbilisi condemned as illegal.

Georgian troops fled the Black Sea province after a conflict with rebels in the early 1990s. Russia-backed Abkhazia has declared independence but Tbilisi wants to re-assert control over it.

Violence and shootouts are frequent in the region but the situation was calm on Sunday as the nation voted to elect a new 35-seat parliament.

Abkhaz President Sergei Bagapsh, speaking after casting his ballot in the capital Sukhumi, said the election -- in which candidates from more than a dozen parties were taking part -- was part of the nation's independence drive.

"The international community should understand there are proper democratic institutions in Abkhazia, including the opposition, independent media and fair elections," he said.

Georgia condemned the election.

"We think this election is not legitimate," said Giga Bokeria, a parliamentary deputy and a close ally of Georgian President Mikhail Saakashvili.

"We are worried about the fate of Abkhazia and especially those who live in Gali," he said, referring to an Abkhaz region home to a large ethnic Georgian population.

Saakashvili says the rebel states of Abkhazia and South Ossetia are being artificially sustained by Moscow which is manipulating the conflict to maintain its influence in the ex-Soviet region.

The European Union has said Georgia must not be broken up and rejected arguments that the rebel regions should be granted independence if Serbia's Kosovo wins sovereignty under a U.N. proposal.

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