December 28, 2008	Sunday	Zilhaj 29, 1429

DUSHANBE, Dec 27: A local leader of an Islamic militant group in Tajikistan has been arrested in Afghanistan and will be handed over to the Tajik authorities, security sources said on Saturday.

Anvarzhon Kaumov led a local branch of the Islamic Movement of Uzbekistan (IMU) militant group in the north of Tajikistan where he was blamed for a string of attacks on the police.

An official source in the Tajikistan national security committee told AFP that Kaumov had fled to Afghanistan and would now be handed over to Dushanbe by the Afghan authorities.

The arrest comes after top Tajik and Afghan security officials agreed earlier this month to arrest and extradite wanted militants accused of carrying out acts of terror.

The IMU group is considered one of the most radical groups operating in Central Asia and claims to be linked to Al Qaeda.

Originally formed to overthrow Uzbekistan’s President Islam Karimov and set up an Islamic regime across Central Asia, the IMU is listed as a terrorist group by the United States.

The group has been very active in Uzbekistan, as well as elsewhere in the region, including Tajikistan and the volatile border between Pakistan and Afghanistan.

The IMU was formed in 1988 by former Soviet paratrooper Juma Namangani and the Islamic ideologue Tohir Yuldashev – both ethnic Uzbeks who aimed to overthrow the government and create a state under Shariat.—AFP