Tajik and Uzbek leaders sign agreements

President Rakhmonov of Tajikistan and President Karimov of Uzbekistan have signed a number of agreements, following months of tension between the two countries.

After talks in the Uzbek capital, Tashkent, observers spoke of a festive atmosphere; President Rakhmonov called Mr Karimov his brother and friend.

The row between the two countries flared up when the Tajik military accused Uzbeks of arming outlawed fighters inside Tajikistan.

The BBC Central Asia correspondent says the relationship between the two states is perhaps the most sensitive in Central Asia, where millions of Uzbeks and Tajiks live side by side, even in the same villages.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service