Uzbekistan Asks Tajikistan to Detain IMU Suspects

(RFE/RL) August 2, 2007 (RFE/RL) -- Tajik officials say Uzbekistan has asked authorities in Tajikistan's northern Sughd Province to detain suspected followers of the banned Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU), RFE/RL's Tajik Service reported.

The head of Sughd's Department of Internal Affairs, Abdurahmon Qahhorov, told RFE/RL that Tashkent believes several Uzbek citizens with ties to the IMU have fled to Tajikistan.

Qahhorov said seven Tajik citizens with suspected ties to the IMU have been arrested in the province this year.

The IMU is regarded as a terrorist group by the United States and the Shanghai Cooperation Organization, of which Tajikistan is a member. Officials have pointed to leadership and training ties between the IMU and Al-Qaeda.