Tajik Leader Orders Crackdown On 'Illegal' Mosques

Emomali Rahmon

Tajik President Emomali Rahmon has instructed his security services to tighten control over religious education and mosques, which he said were often used to foment religious radicalism.

He was speaking two days after the main opposition Islamic party accused the government of corruption and trampling on religious and political rights.

Rahmon said the unchecked proliferation of mosques and religious schools posed a major threat to stability. He said some mosques had turned into "places for recruiting youths to the ranks of extremists."

He also said security services were not doing enough to control the spread of militant Islam.

Reuters