TAJIK POLITICAL DEADLOCK PERSISTS.

In talks with the UN General Secretary’s special envoy for Tajikistan, Jan Kubis, over the weekend, Tajik president Imomali Rahmonov appeared to justify both his government’s and parliament’s repudiation of political provisions of the 1997 peace agreement. Rahmonov argued that the military provisions of the agreement were more important, implying that they had to be assigned priority. The remarks suggest that official Dushanbe wants the opposition to disarm first, leaving the power-sharing arrangements and elections for a follow-up stage.

The June 17 deadline has come and gone, but the presidency and parliament have failed to deliver on their most immediate obligations under the political agreement: legalization of the opposition’s political parties and appointment of opposition representatives to the government posts reserved for them. These tactics can only feed the opposition’s apprehension that the government will not deliver on its obligations once the opposition disarms.

Meanwhile on the Tajik-Afghan border, five Tajik border guards and one Russian were killed in a clash with an unidentified armed group which managed to penetrate inside Tajik territory. (Itar-Tass, June 19 through and 21) –VS

KAZAKHSTAN’S PROSECUTOR GENERAL SLAMS REPUBLIC MEDIA.