DUSHANBE, February 19, 2011, Asia-Plus — “Since we do not have our diplomatic missions in Libya, Bahrain and Yemen, we now have just a general picture of what is going on in these countries,” Davlat Nazriyev, a spokesman for the Tajik MFA, told Asia-Plus in an interview.
According to him, Tajik Embassy in Saudi Arabia is charged to watch the situation in Yemen, Tajik Embassy in Egypt is watching the situation in Libya and Tajik Embassy in the United Arab Emirates is watching the situation in Bahrain.
“We now do not have information about the exact number Tajik nationals in Libya and Bahrain but we know that no Tajiks have been hurt during the protests in these countries,” the spokesman said.
In the meantime, some 300 Tajik nationals, primarily medical professionals, are currently working in Yemen. Tajik medical workers are at medical clinic there under contracts. Nazriyev says no Tajik has been hurt during riots in Yemen.
The New York-based group Human Rights Watch (HRW) reported on February 19 that the number of people killed in three days of protests in Libya has risen to 84.
According to BBC, the main focus of the demonstrations against Colonel Muammar Gaddafi”s 42-year-old rule has been the second city, Benghazi, where one hospital reported 35 deaths on Friday. Protests are said to be continuing. State media have warned of retaliation.
Security forces opened fire in Benghazi on Friday when protesters approached a compound used by Colonel Gaddafi when he visits the city.
According to HRW and media reports, the city”s al-Jala hospital received the bodies of 35 people killed in the shooting. In a statement on its website, HRW says there were demonstrations in at least four other eastern cities on Friday – al-Bayda, Ajdabiya, Zawiya, and Darnah – after security forces shot dead a number of protesters in the previous days.
In the meantime, at least five people have been killed during widespread anti-government demonstrations in Yemen, according to international media outlets. Four people were killed in the southern port city of Aden by gunfire as police moved to disperse protesters and one person was killed and many injured in the city of Taiz when a grenade was thrown from a car at protesters.
In the Yemeni capital Sanaa, supporters and opponents of President Ali Abdullah Saleh clashed on the streets. During what has been described as a nationwide “Friday of rage” (February 10), tens of thousands of protesters in several cities demanded that President Saleh leave office immediately. They are angry about corruption and unemployment in the country.
As far as the situation in Bahrain is concerned, Reuters reported on Saturday that Bahraini troops and armored vehicles on Saturday left a Manama square that had been a base for anti-government protesters, hours after opposition groups rejected a royal dialogue call unless the military stood down.
A handful of demonstrators tried to move back into their former stronghold in Pearl Square after the army pullout, but police fired tear gas beat them back.
Turmoil has rocked Bahrain since demonstrators, mostly from the 70 percent Shi”ite majority, took to the streets to demand more say in the tiny Sunni-ruled Gulf Arab island, Reuters reports. Shi”ites feel cut out of decision-making and complain of discrimination in access to state jobs and housing.
King Hamad bin Isa al-Khalifa offered a national dialogue with all parties on February 18 to try to end the turmoil in which six people have been killed and hundreds wounded since February 14. More than 60 people were in hospital with wounds sustained on February 18 when security forces fired on protesters as they headed to Pearl Square, according to Reuters.
