Tajik authorities hope UN will help solve crisis

The authorities in Tajikistan say they hope the United Nations' special envoy, Gerd Merrem, can help resolve the current crisis in the peace process.

A spokesman for the National Reconciliation Commission Mukhammad Yusuf Khakimzoda told the BBC that Mr Merrem was due to fly to Dushanbe from Moscow tonight, and hold talks tomorrow with the head of the Islamic opposition, Said Abdulloh Nuri, and President Rakhmonov.

Last week, the opposition suspended its participation in the National Reconciliation Commission, complaining that its demands had not been met.

The government has made similar complaints.

Meanwhile, the Tajik Prime Minister, Yahyo Azimov, has left for Moscow to attend a meeting of the customs union between Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Kyrgyzstan, which is to consider Tajikistan's application to join.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service