Gunmen assassinated a Tajikistan security minister Wednesday who was a key figure in tense peace negotiations in this strife-torn ex-Soviet republic, sparking fresh security concerns in the volatile region.
First Deputy Interior Minister Khabib Sanginov, his driver and two bodyguards were shot moments after leaving his apartment on their way to work. Sanginov, the driver and one bodyguard were killed immediately. The second bodyguard died in hospital.
It was the most politically-sensitive assassination here in a year, said police who admitted they had no immediate leads.
"I regard this murder as a terrorist act, of an exlusively political character," said Tajik Foreign Minister Talbak Nazarov on a visit to neighboring Kyrgyzstan.
"There are certain forces both inside and outside Tajikistan that do not want to see palitical stability in our society," he added.
Sanginov, 50, was a key opposition figure allied with Islamic rebels before entering the Tajik government two years ago, while the country was in the throes of civil war.
The five-year conflict pitting pro-Communist forces loyal to Moscow against Islamic groups ended with the signing of a peace accord in June 1997.
Sanginov was a member of the national reconciliation commission that led the former Soviet republic until April 2000.
"We are shocked by this," said Islamic Party deputy Khikmatullo Saifullozoda. "This murder was staged to destabilize the situation in Tajikistan." – DUSHANBE (AFP)
