TAJIK SIDES AGREE TO EXCHANGE PRISONERS DESPITE CEASEFIRE BREACH.

The Tajik government and opposition agreed July 21 in Ashgabat on an exchange of military prisoners and political detainees. The agreement, which ended the third stage of the fifth round of inter-Tajik talks, envisages the mutual release until August 20 of an equal number of persons from lists submitted by each side to the Red Cross mission in Tajikistan. The lists reportedly include 593 government soldiers held by the opposition and 244 opposition detainees held by the government. The exchange is to take place in Horog, capital of Badakhshan region where the opposition exercises substantial influence. (Interfax, July 22)

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