Itar-Tass
29-SEP-98
DUSHANBE,
September 29 (Itar-Tass) - "All the Afghans should
promptly
resume an open and fraternal dialogue, thereby turning
Islamic
peace ethics into a national reality and putting an end to
hatred
and division," Ismailite spiritual leader Aga Khan the Fourth
said during
a meeting with people from the Gorno-Badakhshan
Autonomous
Region of Tajikistan and the Afghan representatives,
who had
arrived there from the neighbouring country.
Imam Aga
Khan had spent one week in the republic at the
invitation
of President Emomali Rakhmonov and had toured the
Gorno-Badakhshan
Autonomy, which has the biggest Ismailite
community
within the Commonwealth of Independent States
(CIS).
In his
appeal to the Afghan spiritual leaders, who visited
Badakhshan
with the help of Russian borderguards, Aga Khan
stated
that his "heart overflows with sorrow from the very idea that
Moslems
are now fighting against Moslems", whereas "it is
necessary
to respect the sanctity of life".
Aga Khan
approved of the fact that peace was established all over
Tajikistan.
He also praised the successful agricultural reforms in
the country
and its economic rehabilitation with the help of his
Development
Organisation. "It is important to extend the
experience
of eliminating hatred and going over to constructive
work and
public prosperity to the territory of Afghanistan too," he
noted.
Aga Khan
told Itar-Tass on Tuesday that he regarded his visit to
Tajikistan
as a very successful and fruitful one . He made this
statement
after his final meeting with President Emomali
Rakhmonov,
during which the sides summed up the results of their
cooperation
and mapped out plans for the future.
Imam Aga
Khan stressed that the progress achieved in the
implementation
of the programmes envisaged by the agreement on
cooperation,
which was signed during his first visit to the republic
in 1995,
"has surpassed all expectations". This, in his opinion,
gives
ground for optimism and for the expansion of his
Organisation's
programmes to develop the republic, to increase aid
to it.
The leader
of the Ismailites of all the world stayed in Tajikistan at
the invitation
of its president from September 21-29. Aga Khan
had meetings
with the leaders of the country, heads of international
organisations
accredited in Dushanbe, and with the commander of
the group
of Russian borderguards in the republic. Aga Khan
undertook
a 4-day tour of the Gorno-Badakhshan region.