BBC News Online: World: Asia-Pacific

Tajik minister murdered

Officials said gunmen attacked him while he was in his car not far from his home at around eight in the morning local time.

The vehicle was riddled with bullets.

Mr Sanginov was badly wounded and taken to his home, where he died shortly afterwards.

His driver and a bodyguard were also killed, and a fourth person is reported to have died after being caught up in the attack.

Opposition figure

Mr Sanginov was a well known member of the former Islamic opposition.

He was one of the first former opposition figures to be incorporated into the government under the peace agreement after the country's five-year civil war.

The BBC's Central Asia correspondent, Catherine Davis, says Mr Sanginov was not regarded as someone who held radical views.

Criminal connection

Interior Minister Khumdin Sharipov called the assassination a "terrorist act" and suggested Mr Sanginov's work against criminal gangs may have been the cause of his murder.

A statement from the Ministry said the President had ordered a special commission to be set up to investigate the killing.

Our correspondent says the murder is likely to shake Tajikistan's belief that it is making real progress towards lasting peace and stability.