Weekly news wrap

Torrential rains struck the northern Tajik province of Soghd on Sunday, damaging roads, bridges and pastures in the Ayni district, according to the country's emergency ministry. While no detailed information was available as to the extent of the damage or casualties, local emergency bodies were reportedly carrying out a cleanup operation, the Tajik Avesta news agency reported. Tajikistan is prone to a variety of natural disasters, including earthquakes, landslides, floods, avalanches and drought. In 2003, 120 incidents involving flooding, avalanches or landslides were recorded in the country, as well as 12 significant earthquakes, according to the European Commission Humanitarian Aid Office (ECHO). In the Central Asian region as a whole, natural disasters have killed about 2,500 people and affected some 5.5 million (almost 10 percent of the total population) over the past decade, ECHO said. Also in Tajikistan, a joint Tajik-Sino commission has begun preliminary work on border demarcation between the two countries, the Tajik Asia-Plus news agency said on Tuesday. The aim is to implement an intergovernmental agreement on state border issues between Tajikistan and China, according to the head of the Khorugh department of the Tajik Border Protection Committee, Faromuz Imomberdiyev. There were also reports of problems on Tajikistan's border with Afghanistan. The Russian ITAR-TASS news agency on Tuesday, quoted Vasiliy Rogozin, deputy head of Russia's drug control body, as saying that drug trafficking is rising following Dushanbe's take-over of the border. "Nobody can calculate how much it has increased. According to various estimates, it is likely to have increased by several times," Rogozin claimed. The border handover operation would continue until the end of 2005, he said, adding, however, that it was already virtually completed. The Asian Development Bank (ADB) said on Thursday that it would continue to emphasise rural development, basic infrastructure and regional cooperation in its assistance programme for Tajikistan, according to a Country Strategy and Programme Update for 2006-2008 endorsed by ADB's board of directors. Loans for national and regional projects from ADB's concessional Asian Development Fund (ADF) over the three years amount to almost US $79 million. This total includes a grant component of $23 million from ADF, according to the CSP Update. Since Tajikistan became a member of ADB in 1998, 17 loans have been approved, amounting to $244.3 million, all provided on concessional terms by the ADF. In Kazakhstan, authorities said on Wednesday that bird flu, discovered close to the border with Russia, was of the type that could be transmitted to humans, AFP reported. According to the Centre for Scientific Agricultural Research of Kazakhstan, the form of avian influenza had been found to be of type A, sub-type H5N1 which is transmissible to human beings, according to a statement by the Kazakh agriculture ministry. The announcement came after authorities in neighbouring Russia said they had found H5N1 in three Siberian provinces. So far, cases of H5N1 around the world have mainly been transmitted between animals but this sub-type has killed at least 60 people in parts of Southeast Asia since 2003. Health experts fear that it could mutate into a form easily transmitted between humans and lead to a pandemic. Kazakh authorities have imposed quarantine orders on the affected part of the northeastern province of Pavlodar. On Monday, the European Commission (EC) called for member states to ban imports of feathers and live birds from both Russia and Kazakhstan. Most Central Asian states, including Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan and Uzbekistan, have already imposed bans on poultry imports from Kazakhstan and Russia. A US-run air base in Kyrgyzstan might take over some duties from another US base in neighbouring Uzbekistan, outgoing US ambassador to Kyrgyzstan, Stephen Young, reportedly said on Wednesday. The Karshi-Khanabad base in southern Uzbekistan was used to support operations in Afghanistan but is now due to close within six months. The transfer of some duties to the Manas air base near the Kyrgyz capital would occur as US forces withdraw from the Karshi-Khanabad base, Young explained. Both Bishkek and Tashkent allowed Washington to open bases on their territories in 2001 to support the US-led overthrow of Afghanistan's Taliban regime. But the government of Uzbek President Islam Karimov issued a formal request on 30 July that Washington should withdraw its forces from Uzbekistan within 180 days. Kyrgyz authorities have said US forces can use the Manas base for as long as may be required. In March, Kyrgyz opposition protesters ousted President Askar Akayev and his government, forcing him to flee to Russia. Last month the country held presidential elections won by Kurmanbek Bakiyev, an opposition leader who took over as acting president after the March uprising. Commenting on the situation in Kyrgyzstan, Young praised the recent political changes in the former Soviet republic. "Kyrgyzstan has set a new standard not only for this country but for all of Central Asia by holding the freest, fairest and most transparent elections in history of the region," he said. "I believe, as a result of the events of this year, Kyrgyzstan has become a beacon of hope to all of its neighbours."