In an interview with 'Tijorat va Siyosat' [probably a translated version of the Russian-language weekly 'Biznes i Politika'], published in the capital of Tajikistan [Dushanbe] this week, Bobojon Bobokhonov said that Uzbekistan's actions were a violation of the international ban on using mines. He added that, according to international norms, mined areas had to be signposted in order to prevent casualties.

He said that the prosecutor of Soghd Region, in the north of this country, had launched investigations into the cases of those who had been blown up by Uzbek mines and that Uzbekistan's prosecutor's office would be notified of the results of the investigations.

Uzbekistan planted mines on Tajikistan's border with Uzbekistan on the pretext of preventing its opposition from intruding into Uzbek territory.

In the few past months, 19 residents of Tajikistan have been killed, and over 15 have been injured in areas bordering on Uzbekistan.

At the same time, Tajik and Uzbek legal bodies have held sessions to define the line of the two countries' border. Tajikistan has over 1,100 km of common land border with Uzbekistan in the north and west.

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"Despite the fact that the intensity of pre-callup training has eased slightly, the prestige of the armed forces has risen significantly - there are almost no "refuseniks", Akhmedjanov said in reply to a question about the situation with regard to the autumn call-up in his Region.

Speaking about military reform, he said: "In the future, a gradual move to a contract basis and to the training of reserve staff for the armed forces will be carried out."

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A journalist, Alisher Taksanov, wrote in the article that an international tourism fair, which Uzbekistan hosted on 12th-14th October 2000, was intended to attract foreign tourism agencies to the country, but it failed.

"It was obvious right from the start that the fair was failing in the true sense of the word," Taksanov wrote.

"The Tashkent fair was not professional in terms of context, it was just a meeting of friends who got an opportunity to talk, review or prolong contracts among themselves."

"It is very difficult to obtain a visa to Uzbekistan. There are people in our country who would like to visit Uzbekistan, but we seldom offer such services due to the existing visa and border problems in Uzbekistan," a manager of the tourism department of the Malaysian company Tourland Travel SDN.BHD told the journalist in an interview.

Taksanov also quoted two other unnamed experts as saying that the non-convertible Uzbek currency and formalities in issuing visas were obstacles to the development of tourism in Uzbekistan.

Some of the foreign companies operating in Uzbekistan are beginning to wrap up their dealings and are about to leave because of the unfavourable local conditions, the journalist wrote in the article.

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According to Islamic tradition it was during Ramadan, the ninth month of the lunar calendar, that the Archangel Gabriel revealed the 144 chapters or surahs of the Koran to the Prophet Mohammed. Not all Muslim countries began Ramadan on Monday. Iran will begin the holy month on Tuesday, when the new moon will be visible throughout the country, the official IRNA news agency said. In Senegal, a national commission charged with sighting the new moon said that because the new moon had not been sighted Sunday night the lunar month would begin there on Tuesday.

An estimated 1 billion people are followers of Islam worldwide, with an estimated 5 million to 6 million in the United States. For the next 30 days Muslim believers are forbidden to consume anything during daytime that will give them pleasure -- for 12 hours they must go even without a drop of water.

The Koran says that one may eat and drink during the night "until you can plainly distinguish a white thread from a black thread by the daylight: then keep the fast until night." Exceptions are made for the sick, travelers, children and pregnant women.

Ramadan is also a time when Muslims concentrate on their faith and spend less time on the concerns of their everyday lives. It is a time of worship, forgiveness and contemplation.

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The boy was kidnapped in the Russian town of Naberezhnyye Chelny on 25th July and had been kept since in the area of the Fergana valley in Uzbekistan, the ambassador said. A ransom of 10,000 dollars had been asked for his release.

However, as a result of a joint operation conducted by the secret services of Russia, Uzbekistan and Kyrgyzstan the boy has been released without any ransom paid, the diplomat said. Shortly after the boy's release the child was brought to the Russian embassy in Bishkek. His physical condition is normal, the ambassador added.

During five months the boy spent in captivity he learned to speak and understand Uzbek and can easily say prayers in Uzbek now which he was forced to do five times a day.

Citizens of different countries whose names have not been disclosed in the interests of the investigation were involved in kidnapping, according to preliminary investigation.

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Armed drug traffickers have recently stepped up their activity at the Uzbek-Afghan border, she said. Since the beginning of the year international terrorists have made four armed attempts to break through the Uzbek border from Afghanistan in order to smuggle a large amount of drugs. These attempts were foiled after armed clashes.

A total of 5,030 incidents of illegal sale of drugs were registered in Uzbekistan over nine months of this year, Kochubey said. The law-enforcement agencies have disclosed over 200 cases of illegal drug transportation across the republic.

Russian cities, such as Moscow, St Petersburg, Kazan, Irkutsk and Novosibirsk are the main intended destinations of the drug couriers detained, Kochubey said.

The law-enforcement agencies are concerned that type of drugs seized suggests a growing demand for hard types.

According to Uzbekistan's Justice Ministry, 3,723 people were sentenced for crimes related to illegal drugs sale this year, a figure that represents a 11 per cent increase on last year's.

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