From: Abraham Rein (ARein@sorosny.org)
Date: Fri Oct 13 2000 - 16:36:29 EDT
TAJIKISTAN, IRAN DISCUSS AFGHAN CRISIS. Tajik Foreign
Minister Talbak Nazarov met with visiting Iranian Deputy
Foreign Minister Sadeq Kharrazi in Dushanbe on 12 October,
Asia Plus-Blitz reported. The two discussed the potential
threat posed to both their countries by an influx of refugees
fleeing the fighting in neighboring Afghanistan. They agreed
that the civil war in that country can be ended only by
negotiations with a view to creating "a broad-based
government" that "would take into account the interests of
all sections of the Afghan population." They also reviewed
the potential for expanding bilateral economic cooperation.
Speaking in Tashkent the same day, Uzbekistan's President
Islam Karimov similarly said that peace in Afghanistan is
impossible as long as all that country's ethnic and religious
groups are not represented in the government, Interfax
reported. Karimov said the composition of that government is
of no interest to Tashkent, provided that peace is restored.
And he stressed that Uzbekistan is not seeking confrontation
with Afghanistan or to interfere in that country's internal
affairs. LF
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