TAJIK DRUG TSAR HELD 'FOR GRAFT'

The Tajik general in charge of battling the drugs trade has been
arrested amid claims of murder and corruption.

Ghaffor Mirzoyev is being held in the capital Dushanbe while inquiries
go on.

He is accused of involvement in a murder, hoarding weapons including
an anti-aircraft missile, and cheating the state out of a helicopter
contract.

Correspondents say he is one of the most powerful people in Tajikistan
and had also been set to go to Athens as head of the national Olympic
committee.

'Cell Arsenal'

Tajik Prosecutor General Bobojon Bobokhonov said no charges had yet
been laid against Lt Gen Mirzoyev.

But he catalogued accusations against the head of the UN-backed Drug
Control Agency, saying he was being investigated for any involvement
in the killing of a police official in 1998.

Mr Bobokhonov said more than 3,000 weapons, including pistols,
automatic rifles and grenades, were found in holding cells for
prisoners at the drug agency and that an anti-aircraft missile had
also been recovered at a farm owned by Gen Mirzoyev.

The drug tsar also allegedly imported a helicopter illegally from
Russia which he then sent to Afghanistan to be used instead of a
state-owned aircraft for a $650,000 contract.

"He used his own helicopter and pocketed the money," the prosecutor
said.

Officials say they expect to charge Gen Mirzoyev within 10
days.

Crucial Role

Gen Mirzoyev is a former head of the presidential guard who was a
prominent military commander during Tajikistan's five-year civil war
in the 1990s.

He was moved to head the anti-drug agency earlier this year in a
reshuffle of top officials seen as part of efforts by President
Emomali Rahmonov to consolidate his power base and eliminate potential
rivals.

Observers had anticipated trouble, but the BBC's Clare Doyle says the
general appeared satisfied with his new job and his second official
position as head of the country's Olympic committee.

Tajikistan's Drug Control Agency is seen as having a crucial role in
trying to tackling the booming regional drug market centred in
neighbouring Afghanistan.