OSCE working to resolve tensions in the north

The Organisation of Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) is helping to defuse tensions in Tajikistan's northern province of Sughd - particularly in Isfara District - between the secular authorities and Tajik Islamists, who are partners in government after the end of the civil war in 1997. "We are maintaining contacts with and facilitating dialogue and confidence-building between the political forces in the country," Marc Gilbert, the head of the OSCE in Tajikistan, told IRIN from the Tajik capital, Dushanbe, on Wednesday. His comments follow a recent meeting between himself and Abdullah Nuri, head of the Islamic Rebirth Party of Tajikistan, to discuss the complaints of Islamists about alleged harassment at the hands of government officials in the northern region. Tensions in Sughd surfaced after a speech by Tajik President Emomali Rahmonov in July indicating the presence of Tajik prisoners among Taliban and Al-Qaeda detainees in Guantanamo Bay, Cuba. Rifts also exist over the possible strict implementation of some legislation on religion. The Central Asian nation of six million plunged into a five-year civil war a year after winning independence following the collapse of the Soviet Union in 1991. In accordance with the Tajik Peace Agreement reached in June 1997 between the Moscow-backed government and the Islamist-led United Tajik Opposition (UTO), the Islamists were made part of a coalition government. Commenting on the current situation, Gilbert said the Tajik authorities were taking steps to reduce tensions and the OSCE had organised discussions between secular and religious factions to promote understanding. He said, however, that the current tensions could affect Tajik national reconciliation in many ways. "These issues are independent from the tragic consequences of the civil war, but religion is a hot issue in the region," he observed. Established in 1994, the OSCE mission to Tajikistan has a broad and flexible mandate to support political reconciliation, and building democracy and respect for human rights in the country. OSCE is the largest regional security organisation in the world, with 55 member-countries in Europe, Central Asia and North America. It is active in early warning, conflict prevention, crisis management and post-conflict rehabilitation.