® ATAT II % dj" dpi C* Associated Press NelSaskan
2 1 VV £9 J—^ 1£|V J i Edited by Brandon Loomis Wednesday> February 14,1990
Hundreds flee Dushanbe to escape ethnic clashes
Influx of Armenians spreads violence to Tadzhikistan
_l-_ __ A A_r.__ •
MOSCOW - Armenians by the
hundreds have fled the Tadzhikistan
capital of Dushanbe to escape ethnic
rioting that has killed at least seven
people and injured more than 100,
news reports said Tuesday.
Soldiers in tanks and armored
personnel carriers were reportedly in
control of the central Asian city 1,600
miles from Moscow, but violence was
spreading to the suburbs, said Ana
toly Larenok, a correspondent for the
national newspaper Vozdushny Trans
port.
“There arc tanks guarding key
buildings in the center of the city, and
the riots have moved to the suburbs,’ ’
he said.
Violence broke out in Dushanbe
on Monday after rumors spread that
thousands of Armenian refugees --
already fleeing ethnic clashes with
Azerbaijanis in the Caucasus -- were
being given preference for scarce new
housing.
There is a chronic housing short
age in Dushanbe for Tadzhik fami
lies, which traditionally are large.
Television news Tuesday evening
said the ethnic attacks were continu
ing, and showed film footage of bloody
clashes between rioters and rows of
police, smashed vehicles and shat
tered storefronts.
Larenok said at least 300 Armeni
ans had fled the city aboard special
flights to Yerevan, the Armenian
capital, and many others had left on
regular flights.
About 30 people were arrested for
taking part in the violence, the report
said.
Zaniddin Nasreddinov, an editor
at the Tajiktass news agency, reported
another rally in the center of Dushanbe
Tuesday morning, but said there was
no violence. Communist Party lead
ers spoke to the crowd and assured
them that all Armenian refugees had
left the city, he said.
The demonstrators elected a com
mittee of 12 to represent the public in
negotiations with authorities on is
sues such as the current ethnic strife,
housing and unemployment, Nasred
dinov said.
Interfax, a publication of official
Radio Moscow, said the crowd de
manded the deportation of all Arme
nians from Tadzhikistan, the closure
of an ecologically dangerous alumi
num plant, the return to the republic
of all proceeds from cotton produc
tion, and the resignations of the
Communist Party and government
leadership.
The official lass news agency,
contradicting the TV report of con
tinuing attacks, said Dushanbe was
calm Tuesday but “still very tense.”
A state of emergency was declared
Monday and a 10 p.m.-6 a.m. curfew
was imposed, Tass said. The curfew
remained in effect Tuesday night.
Tass said precise casualty figures
were unavailable, but preliminary
reports showed that at least seven
people had died in the rioting and 108
were injured when young Tadzhiks
stormed the Communist Party head
quarters and went on a rampage.
The news agency said a small crowd
that had gathered in front of the build
ing Monday morning swelled to a
rally of at least 4,000 later in the day.
Communist Party First Secretary
Kakhar Makhkamov and other mem
bers of the government told the crowd
tiiai uiiij auuui iciu^va/3 in
Dushanbe, and they were living with
relatives, Tass said.
“No one believed them, and sev
eral members from the rally attempted
to enter the building,” Tass said.
“Interior Ministry troops blocked
entrances to the building and soldiers
fired into the air, but this did not stop
the extremists.”
Shots were fired at the troops from
the crowd and stones were thrown at
them, Tass said. Rampaging youths
broke the ground floor windows and
set fire to the building, it said.
Larenok reported that the rioters
then attacked apartments belonging
to Armenians across the city. “A
jewelry store, shops, a railway station
and several kiosks were broken into
and smashed,” he said in a telephone
interview.
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Germanys agree to begin formal talks
BONN, West Germany - The
Germanys agreed Tuesday to begin
formal talks on making the West
German mark the official currency of
East Germany, a move that could lay
the economic foundation for reunifi
cation.
In Ottawa, meanwhile, British
Foreign Secretary Douglas Hurd said
Tuesday that the Western allies and
the Soviet Union arc close to agree
ing on a way to unite the Germanys.
The announcement referred to a
U.S. plan to have East and West
Germany work out procedures for a
merger immediately after East Ger
many holds national elections on March
18.
The allies of World War II - the
United Stales, Britain, France and the
Soviet Union — then will discuss
security questions, including whether
a reunified Germany would be a
member of the North Atlantic Treaty
Organization.
The Soviets want a neutral Ger
many, while the United States is press
ing for NATO membership.
Hurd made the announcement
during an East-West summiton aerial
surveillance.
Deep problems exist between the
-1
government or west German Chan
cellor Helmut Kohl and the rickety
Communist coalition of East German
Premier Hans Modrow.
Their brief summit produced an
agreement to set up a joint commis
sion next week to devise a way to
make the West German mark the
official currency of both nations.
The opposition groups want all
important decisions on economic
recovery put off until after March 18
elections.
But some West German officials
who arc championing reunification I
warn that East Germany’s economic
state is so dire that it could be bank- (
ruot even before the elections.
Modrow pressed for immediate
steps after March 18 to join the Ger- 1
man economies, but made clear that
no action could be taken before then.
The premier instead appealed for
$9 billion in “solidarity aid” to tide
over East Germany. West German
Finance Minister Thco Waigel said
massive loans could not be made when
so little detail of East Germany’s
financial profile has been made pub
lic.
Modrow claimed his nation has
much to contribute to a unified Ger
many, declaring that national wealth
totals $850 billion, more than half the
gross national product of the wealthy
West German state that is three times
larger.
Nebraskan
Editor Amy Edwards
472- 1768
Professional Adviser Don Walton
473- 7301
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ALL MATERIAL COPYRIGHT
1990 DAILY NEBRASKAN
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