DUSHANBE, May 2, 2013, Asia-Plus:

April 1                          - The spring conscription campaign started in Tajikistan.  During the spring conscription campaign, young Tajiks are drafted into the country’s armed forces from April through May 2013;

- 73 kilograms of hashish were seized in Dushanbe.  The narcotics were found hidden in Opel-Astra belonging to resident of the Farkhor district, Khatlon province.

April 2                          - Co-chaired by Tajik Minister of Agriculture Qosim Qosimov and Belarusian Minister of Agriculture and Food Leonid Zayats, the eighth meeting of the Tajik-Belarusian intergovernmental commission for trade and economic cooperation took place in Dushanbe.

April 3                          - The fourth meeting of the Tajik-Ukrainian intergovernmental commission for trade and economic cooperation took place in Dushanbe.   Co-chaired by Tajik Minister of Economic Development and Trade Sharif Rahimzoda and Ukrainian Minister for Regional Development, Construction and Housing Gennady Temnik, the meeting discussed bilateral cooperation between the two nations in sectors like energy, industry, transportation, construction, agriculture, science and culture.

April 4                          - Tajik President Emomali Rahmon received Mr. Kaushik Basu, Senior Vice President for Development Economics and Chief Economist of the World Bank.  The sides reportedly considered issues related to ways to support socioeconomic development of Tajikistan and assessment studies for the Roghun hydroelectricity project;

                        - Ukrainian authorities refused former Tajik Prime Minister Abdullojonov''s extradition and released him, saying he has refugee status in the United States.  Abdullojonov was detained in Ukraine in February on his arrival from the United States.  Abdullojonov challenged longtime Tajik President Emomali Rahmon in the 1994 presidential election.  Tajik authorities accuse him of involvement in a 1996 assassination attempt on Rahmon and backing a 1998 militant attack in Sughd Province.  Abdullojonov has denied the charges, saying they are politically motivated.

April 5              - Some 100 young men and women rallied in front of the U.S. Embassy in Dushanbe, protesting the release of former Prime Minister Abdumalik Abdullojonov from custody in Ukraine.  A similar protest was held simultaneously by some 60 young demonstrators in front of the UN office in Dushanbe;

- The First Deputy Foreign Minister, Mahmoudjon Sobirov, represented Tajikistan at the CIS foreign ministers’ meeting in Tashkent, Uzbekistan.  The meeting reportedly  focused on foreign policy coordination, educational programs, cooperation against crimes related to information technology, and a draft resolution on the expansion of tourism between the countries.  The priority was given to humanitarian cooperation.

April 6                          - Mr. Zayd Saidov, head of the Association of Entrepreneurs and Producers of Tajikistan, who is also head of the Coordinating Council of Business Associations and Public Associations of Tajikistan (CCBAPAT), declared the formation of a new political party – New Tajikistan.  Initiated by Zayd Saidov, head of CCBAPAT, Shavkat Bozorov, first deputy head of CCBAPAT, Abdughani Mamadazimov, head of the Association of Political Scientists of Tajikistan, as well as heads of a number of business associations the new political party reportedly aims to promote the achievement of economic independence of Tajikistan.

April 7-8                       - U.S. Assistant Secretary of State for Public Affairs Mike Hammer visited Dushanbe, Radio Liberty’s Tajik Service reported.  According to the U.S. State Department''s website, Hammer is expected to meet with journalists, government officials, civil society leaders, and students of public affairs during his stay in Dushanbe and Tashkent on April 7-15.  In Dushanbe, Hammer had plans to meet with the head of Tajikistan''s State Communications Service and the Foreign Ministry spokesperson to discuss press and Internet freedom.

April 9-12          - President Emomali Rahmon heading a Tajik government delegation visited the Kingdom of Belgium.  During the visit, Rahmon held talks with a number of the UN officials and NATO Secretary-General Anders Fogh Rasmussen at NATO headquarters in Brussels.

April 14                        A court in Dubai ruled that Tajik national Umrali Quvvatov  wanted by Dushanbe for an alleged $1.2 million fraud can be extradited to Tajikistan.  Quvvatov was arrested at Tajikistan''s request in December.  Quvvatov, a successful businessman, once had close ties to the family of Tajik President Emomali Rahmon.  Last year, Quvvatov left Dushanbe and established a political group opposing Rahmon. Tajik authorities have denied the case is politically motivated;

- Russian Deputy Prime Minister Dmitry Rogozin, whose portfolio includes defense, ostentatiously toured a Moscow-bound Tajik train and declared it unfit for carrying humans.  Rogozin also suggested that Tajiks could be subject to new passport restrictions.  Russia''s chief sanitary doctor Gennady Onishchenko told Russian media about the health “risks” of the trains.

April 14-17        - Indian Vice-President, Mr. Mohammad Hamid Ansari, paid an official visit to Tajikistan.   During the visit, Mr. Ansari reportedly discussed ways to further India''s trade and defense ties and other bilateral issues with Tajikistan.  This was the first ever visit by an Indian Vice President to Tajikistan.

April 15                        - Tajik President Emomali Rahmon 15 received visiting Kazakh Defense Minister Adilbek Jaksybekov.  The sides discussed issues related to regional security, the current situation in Afghanistan as well as military and military-technical cooperation between Tajikistan and Kazakhstan.  Rahmon and Jaksybekov also exchanged views on training of personnel for the Tajik national army at military schools in Kazakhstan;

Russian border service chief Vladimir Mochalov proposed to suspend Tajik rail service to Russia altogether.    

April 15-18        - A British multi-sector trade mission visited Dushanbe for a high level program of                    meetings with the Tajik government, donors and private sector.  The mission consisted of      nine companies working in services, construction of infrastructure projects, supplying goods and equipment, steel bridging and IT sectors.

April 18                        - Tajikistan and the United Kingdom signed an agreement enabling the recovery of British equipment from Afghanistan.  A government-to-government agreement concerning the procedure for transit military equipment and personnel through the territory of Tajikistan in connection with the participation of the United Kingdom efforts to ensure the security, stabilization and reconstruction of Afghanistan was inked here by Tajik Foreign Minister, Mr. Hamrokhon Zarifi, and British Ambassador to Tajikistan, Mr. Robin Jeremy Ord-Smith;   

- Tajik President Emomali Rahmon received Askar Mamin, head of Kazakhstan’s state railway company, Kazakhstan Temir Zholy (KTZ).  The sides discussed bilateral cooperation between Tajikistan and Kazakhstan in the field of rail transportation.  Renewal of rolling stock of Tajik state railway company, Rohi Ohani Tojikiston (Tajik Railways), and training of personnel for Tajik railway company were a major topic of the meeting;

- The first meeting of the Joint Coordination Working Group for the practical implementation of a memorandum of understanding (MoU) between Tajikistan, Turkmenistan and Afghanistan for the railway construction project took place in Ashgabat, Turkmenistan.  The delegations of the three countries discussed a number of specific issues related to the prospects of implementation of the project aimed at construction of a rail link connecting Turkmenistan, Tajikistan and Afghanistan.  The 400-kilometer railroad is expected to connect the Afghan town of Akina-Andkhoy to Atamurat-Ymamnazar in Turkmenistan and Panj in Tajikistan.

April 18-19        - Sheikh Salman Bin Ibrahim Al-Khalifa, President of the Bahrain Football Association (BFA), paid an official visit to Tajikistan.  On April 19, BFA president held talks with his Tajik counterpart Rustam Emomali to discuss bilateral cooperation between the football bodies of the two countries.

April 18-21        - Mr. Leigh Turner, Regional Director for Trade & Investment for Turkey, Central Asia and the South Caucasus, visited Tajikistan.  He held talks with high-ranking Tajik state officials to discuss economic development in Tajikistan.  He also met with representatives of donor community to discuss donor progress on strengthening economic development.

April 19                        - The IRP deputy head Mahmadali Hayit was kicked and beaten by several unidentified attackers outside his home in Dushanbe.  Hayit was taken to hospital with moderate and more serious injuries.

April 23                        - Tajik Foreign Minister Hamrokhon Zarifi summoned Russian Ambassador Yuri Popov and handed him a protest note about the remarks made by Russian nationalist leader Vladimir Zhirinovsky.  The note, in particular, expresses concern about statements made by some high-ranking Russian state officials and public figures against Tajikistan.  According to the note, remarks made by Zhirinovsky, head of the Liberal Democratic Party of Russian, on April 18 during the Russia-1 television channel’s talk-show Poyedinok (The Duel) insult not only the Tajik authorities but also the Tajik people.  We will recall that during the talk-show, Zhirinovsky questioned Tajik authorities’ insistence on Russia paying higher rent for use of three military bases.  He called to ban the hundreds of thousands of migrant laborers from Tajikistan;

                                   - Lieutenant-Colonel Jumakhon Karimov, deputy chief of the department for combating human trafficking, Interior Ministry’s Organized Crime Control Directorate (UBOP) told journalists that the case of missing Dushanbe cousins Sabina and Malika Aralova was now classified as a kidnapping rather than a missing-persons case. He gave no other details on the situation.  Sabina and Malika, age 4 and 6, disappeared after they went outside to play near their house in Dushanbe on March 25.

April 23-24        - A seminar formally titled “Challenges in Addressing the Illicit Drugs Problem in Central Asia in the Context of Withdrawal of International Forces from Afghanistan in 2014”, was held in Dushanbe.  Organized by UN Regional Centre for Preventive Diplomacy for Central Asia (UNRCCA) in cooperation with the UN Office on Drugs and Crime (UNODC) and with support of the Government of Tajikistan, the seminar covered overall security related dynamics in the region, possible trends in illicit drug production and drug trafficking, increased linkages between drug trafficking and terrorism and extremism, impact of drug related organized crime on state functioning as well as bilateral and regional cooperation, and the role of international and regional organizations in addressing illicit drug problems.

April 24                        - Russia’s Foreign Ministry sent a reply to Tajikistan’s protest note about the remarks made by Russian nationalist leader Vladimir Zhirinovsky.  The Tajik MFA’s websites says the note from the Russian MFA, in particular, notes that State Duma (Russia’s lower chamber of parliament) deputy Vladimir Zhirinovsky’s remarks about Tajikistan and its president are personal views expressed during a talk show on television.  According to the Tajik MFA’s website, the Russia MFA note also says that the comments expressed by Zhirinovsky do not have anything in common with the position of Russia.

April 26                        - President Emomali Rahmon delivered an annual address to the Parliament.  Usually, in an address to the parliament, the president discusses the country’s priorities in domestic and foreign politics as well as main economic challenges;

- Tajik Foreign Minister Hamrokhon Zarifi attended the 3rd Ministerial Meeting of the Istanbul Process on regional Security and Cooperation for a Secure and Stable Afghanistan (Istanbul Process) that took place in Almaty, Kazakhstan.  On the sidelines of the conference, Tajik minister held a number of bilateral meetings.

April 27                        - Tajik President Emomali Rahmon met here with visiting Swiss State Secretary Yves Rossier.  The sides discussed issues related to state and prospects of further expansion of cooperation between Tajikistan and Switzerland both in bilateral format and in the framework of international organizations, including the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE);

- The Islamic Revival Party of Tajikistan (IRP) held a conference dedicated to its 40th anniversary.  The event that took place at IRP’s headquarters in Dushanbe reportedly brought together the IRP delegates from all regions of the country as well guests from Tajikistan and some other countries.