DUSHANBE -- A former powerful governor from Tajikistan's northern Sughd Province has died in a Dushanbe prison, RFE/RL's Tajik Service reports.
Abdujalil Homidov, 65, was an influential businessman in his region. He died on May 25.
In 1992, his son married the daughter of then-Prime Minister Abdumalik Abdullajanov. Homidov was then elected provincial governor.
Both men were fired from their respective posts in 1993. But in 1994, President Imomali Rahmon invited Homidov to join his team and reinstated him as Sughd governor, though he dismissed him a year later.
At that point Homidov aligned with renegade Colonel Mahmud Khudoiberdiev, who launched several unsuccessful bids from his base in Uzbekistan to seize power in Tajikistan.
Homidov was apprehended in 2001 when he returned secretly to Sughd to attend his sister's funeral. He was charged with participating in Khudoiberdiev's failed rebellions and with an assassination attempt on then-Sughd Governor Qosim Qosimov.
Tajik historian Nurali Davlatov told RFE/RL that Homidov made a serious mistake when he sided with Khudoiberdiev, who had the covert support of the Uzbek government.
Davlatov said Homidov even supported the idea of incorporating northern Tajikistan into Uzbekistan.
Abdujalil Homidov, 65, was an influential businessman in his region. He died on May 25.
In 1992, his son married the daughter of then-Prime Minister Abdumalik Abdullajanov. Homidov was then elected provincial governor.
Both men were fired from their respective posts in 1993. But in 1994, President Imomali Rahmon invited Homidov to join his team and reinstated him as Sughd governor, though he dismissed him a year later.
At that point Homidov aligned with renegade Colonel Mahmud Khudoiberdiev, who launched several unsuccessful bids from his base in Uzbekistan to seize power in Tajikistan.
Homidov was apprehended in 2001 when he returned secretly to Sughd to attend his sister's funeral. He was charged with participating in Khudoiberdiev's failed rebellions and with an assassination attempt on then-Sughd Governor Qosim Qosimov.
Tajik historian Nurali Davlatov told RFE/RL that Homidov made a serious mistake when he sided with Khudoiberdiev, who had the covert support of the Uzbek government.
Davlatov said Homidov even supported the idea of incorporating northern Tajikistan into Uzbekistan.
