The trial of Azerbaijan's former president, Abulfaz Elchibey, opened on Monday only to be immediately adjourned until Tuesday.

Mr Elchibey is charged with insulting the honour and dignity of his successor, the current president, Heydar Aliev.

If found guilty, Mr Elchibey faces a sentence of up to six years in jail. Diplomats say the severity of the sentence will be an indicator of the state of human rights in the country.

The court case hinges on accusations that Mr Aliev helped to found the Kurdish Worker's Party, the PKK, in the late 1970s, when he was a high-ranking member of the Soviet Communist Party.

Presidential power struggle

It's the latest development in a longstanding rivalry between the two dominant figures of Azerbaijan's post-Soviet politics.

Heydar Aliev says his dignity and honour have been tarnished

Mr Elchibey is a former dissident who became president in the country's first democratic election, in 1992.

Mr Aliev is a veteran Soviet leader who came to power a year later, after Mr Elchibey was ousted in a military coup.

He won a second presidential term last October. Azerbaijan's Ministry of Justice says Mr Elchibey's accusation that his rival helped to found the PKK is slanderous.

PKK terror

It says the PKK is well known as a terrorist organisation. Mr Elchibey's lawyers say it was not an insult, because the PKK began life as an ordinary worker's party.

The case will be scrutinised by Western diplomats, who say the outcome - and the sentence, if Mr Elchibey is found guilty - will serve as a barometer of civil and political rights in Azerbaijan.