Tajik coup supporters arrested

Officials in Tajikistan say they have detained five members of a rebel group involved in a series of terrorist activities in the northern Gissar region.

The Itar-Tass news agency quotes Tajik interior ministry officials who say the detained men have been identified as supporters of a former military officer, Colonel Makhmud Khudoberdiev, who launched an unsuccessful coup in 1997.

The men face several charges relating to the revolt.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service