DUSHANBE, November 23, 2009, Asia-Plus — President Emomali Rahmon today met with ambassadors of Palestine and Sri Lanka, who presented their credentials to the Tajik head of state.
Speaking to reporters after the credentials-presenting ceremony, Palestinian Ambassador to Tajikistan, Asad Abdel Munem Al Asad, noted that they hoped for Tajikistan’s support for creation of the independent Palestinian state.
According to him, Palestine attaches significance to expansion of cooperation with Tajikistan due to its role in the Central Asian region. “Tajikistan with its ancient culture and history as well as its experience in achieving peace sets example to many countries,” Palestinian diplomat noted.
Asked about the possibility of use of the method of achieving peace through negotiations on the Tajik model for establishment of peace in Palestine, Asad Abdel Munem Al Asad noted that the situation in Palestine differed from that in Tajikistan. Confrontation that was initiated in Tajikistan in the 1990s by some foreign countries was a civil war, while “we are fighting external enemy in the person of Israel and the United Sates, though we have internal disagreements,” he said.
In the meantime, Ambassador of Sri Lanka to Tajikistan, Jayalat Virakkody (phonetically spelled), noted that although political relations between Sri-Lanka and Tajikistan had a ten-year history, bilateral economic and trade cooperation between the two countries did not correspondent to its real potential. He promised to take efforts to boost bilateral economic and trade cooperation between Sri Lanka and Tajikistan.
