DUSHANBE, February 4, 2011, Asia-Plus — The Tajik Embassy in Cairo is preparing the list of Tajik nationals wanting to return home, the Tajik MFA information department reports.
“The clashes between protesters and supporters of the Egyptian government in Cairo’s central Tahrir Square evoke serious concern of Tajik nationals living in this country,” the source said, noting that as of 5:30 pm of February 3, no injured was reported among Tajik citizens in Egypt.
In the meantime, 17 Tajik public servants that were taking training course in Cairo yesterday returned home on a transit flight via Istanbul, Turkey.
Radio Liberty’s Tajik Service, referring to the Tajik diplomatic mission in Cairo, reports that to-date, some 60 Tajik students studying in Cairo universities have applied to the embassy asking to send them home.
International media outlets reported on February 3 that tens of thousands of protesters remained in central Cairo after dark, with some involved in a running battle with government supporters who were attacking them.
BBC reported yesterday that Egypt”s Health Minister Ahmed Samih Farid said that eight people had died in the fighting, which began on Wednesday, and 890 were injured, nine of them critically.
In the meantime, Egyptian President Hosni Mubarak has said he would like to resign immediately but fears the country would descend into chaos if he did so. In his first interview since anti-government protests began, he told ABC News yesterday he was “fed up” with power. Mr. Mubarak warned that the Islamist Muslim Brotherhood party would fill any power vacuum if he stepped down.
