Tajik President Reported Ousted by Opposition
Tajikistan President Rakhman Nabiyev, facing a simmering civil war in the south of his country, has been removed from power, a statement read on Tajik Radio said Wednesday.
The statement, monitored by the British Broadcasting Corp., said the parliamentary leadership and the Cabinet had no confidence in Nabiyev, who was elected in November.
Nabiyev’s whereabouts have been unknown since armed militants on Monday occupied his residence in the capital, Dushanbe, and took ministers hostage.
“(They) consider that he has in fact been removed from power and that from now on it is not possible for him to perform his duties,” the statement said.
The statement did not say on what basis Nabiyev, a former Communist leader elected president in November, was stripped of power.
Nega, a small independent Tajik news agency, said the ministers taken hostage were released early Wednesday and immediately began talks with the parliamentary leadership on Nabiyev’s future.
A statement on behalf of Nabiyev and issued by the Tajik mission in Moscow denied opposition charges that Nabiyev had fled to a Russian army base in Dushanbe.
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