Tajikistan - The Tajiks

It would be charitable to say that the Tajik Islamic Movement led by Sayid Abdullo Nuri represents the Tajiks in Tajikistan, but that would be overstating his importance. They want 40 percent control of the government, but they don't really represent all Tajiks.

His 2,000 or so rebels have been pounding away for 6 years (since the Soviet meltdown) at the Russian forts along the Afghanistan/Tajikistan border, and once in a while they lob a grenade in downtown Dushanbe, so the reporters don't have to travel so far to report the news. For now they are trying to make good on a peace treaty signed in May of 1997. An attractive option after President Rakhmanov survived an assassination attempt a month earlier. Nuri finally came to Dushanbe in September to kiss and make up. It seems his photo op was delayed by a wave of bombings. A peace agreement with Sayid Abdullo Nuri was signed after five years of exile. He will have about 560 fighters to make sure he stays alive in Dushanbe. They spent their nights wearing their headbands, large hunting knifes and AK dancing with the Russian whores in the courtyard of the Hotel Tajikistan.

The often Shia (some are Sunni) Muslim Tajiks are Persians originally from northern Afghanistan. They are Persians and consider themselves a superior race and have a millennium of cultural achievements to back it up. Their capital was Bukhara where some of Islam's brightest stars held court. Poets, philosophers, artists and calligraphers spread their skills throughout the Muslim world from here. There are about 5,000 Tajik fighters based in Northern Afghanistan. DP's pal Ahmed Shah Massoud uses Tajikistan as a supply line, and is a hero to these folks, and will more than likely come to visit if the Taliban push him out of the Panshir valley. This could start the war going the other way. Tajiks are primarily Sunni Muslims with the Pamirs being Shia's. You can also find Tajiks in Uzbekistan (860,000), Kazakhstan (100,000) and the Xiajang region of China (30,000). For now, the Tajiks fight in four major groups that include The Democratic Front, The National Front and the following major groups.