U.N. secretary-general's representative to Tajikistan meets with Tajik President

Tajik President Emomali Rakhmonov and Ivo Petrov, head of the United Nations Peace-Building Office and UN secretary-general's representative to Tajikistan, met in Tajikistan on Friday to exchange opinions on prospects for further development of relations between the UN and the Republic of Tajikistan, on ways and means of deepening and expanding them, and on current developments in Central Asia and Afghanistan, reported Rakhmonov's press secretary Zafar Saidov.

According to Saidov, the Tajik president praised the role of the UN and its Peace-Building Office in the process of establishing peace and national conciliation in Tajikistan, as well as in the following stage of the country's development. In Rakhmonov's opinion, all that became possible thanks to experienced diplomats whom the secretary-general had been appointing his representatives to Tajikistan. The effort made by those diplomats eventually accounted for United Nations' success and increasing authority.

The Tajik president confirmed his position in respect of the strengthening of the role and authority of the UN and emphasized that the country attached great importance to further development of cooperation with that international organization.

Going on to discuss the situation in Afghanistan, the president praised the progress of the country's peace process, saying, "The world community must consolidate its efforts to support the new Afghan authorities and help the country restore its economy by means of creating a firm basis for peaceful life in Afghanistan."