Live from Moscow by Eric Almeida Page A

IMU has been responsible for
hostage-takings and border skirmishes near the Uzbek-Tajik-Kyrgyz border areas.
The U.S. Embassy in Dushanbe continues to observe heightened security
precautions…
     
    Was security improving or not? How could the country be getting safer
despite the persistence of "terrorist actions against Americans," not
to mention "hostage-takings and border skirmishes"? Gallagher located
the current State Department "Advisory" on Tajikistan and found
similar contradictions.
     
    Security personnel may at times place foreign visitors under
surveillance. Hotel rooms, telephones, and fax machines may be monitored, and
personal possessions in hotel rooms may be searched. Taking photographs of
anything that could be perceived as being of military or security interest may
result in problems with the authorities.
    From time to time, the U.S. Embassy may suspend or otherwise restrict the
travel of U.S. Embassy personnel to Tajikistan and within Tajikistan. The
Department of State relocated U.S. Embassy operations from Dushanbe, Tajikistan
to Almaty, Kazakhstan in 1998 due to instability in Tajikistan, threats against
Americans and American interests worldwide, and the limited ability to secure
the safety of U.S.
    Embassy personnel in Dushanbe. For the time being, American diplomatic
personnel officially reside in Almaty, Kazakhstan, but spend most of
    their time in Tajikistan. This situation is likely to persist at least
through 2007…
     
    Bradford had said there was no permanent State Department presence in
Tajikistan. And that Bill Hermann, the U.S. intelligence "liaison"
whom Bradford had interviewed, was based in Almaty and visited Dushanbe only
several days per week. Franklin Stanson was based in Moscow but had said much
the same thing.
    Gallagher remembered Bradford's characterization of U.S. policy toward
Tajikistan. "In flux," he’d said during a phone call before his
departure. What was U.S. policy? It struck Gallagher as confused and ambiguous.
Next he turned to independent news media. He knew Western coverage of
Tajikistan was meager, but did a search of recent bulletins from wire services.
There were no indications of newfound stability:
     
    March 27-Three French Medical Aid Workers Slaughtered
    Three French doctors from the French organization
Médecins Sans Frontières
were
found decapitated yesterday along the main road east of Dushanbe, Tajikistan.
Local authorities said they suspect Al Qaeda operatives…
    May 2-Chinese Road Engineers shot in "Random Attack"
    Five Chinese road engineers were gunned down on Saturday in a remote
region of northern Tajikistan. According to Tajik officials, the attack was
conducted by a team of four masked gunmen, who later escaped in an all-terrain
vehicle. They have described the attack as "random." Four of the
engineers died during or shortly after the attack; the fifth is in critical
condition in a Dushanbe hospital…
    July 3-German Student Missing in Dushanbe
    Dushanbe, Tajikistan-Jorgen Klein, 21, a student from Munich, Germany,
was reported missing Thursday from his hotel in the center of the capital.
Local law enforcement sources said they are investigating the disappearance.
Klein's family in Munich has appealed to the German Foreign Ministry for
further answers…
     
    In October there were several headlines about Bradford, which Gallagher read
with a nauseating sensation. He leaned back in his chair, removed his glasses
and held the bridge of his nose between thumb and index finger. Why hadn't he
done this research earlier? He'd relied on Bradford to make informed choices.
And now he was sending Conley into the same murk and anarchy.
    "Art?"
    Gallagher startled and turned toward the door of his office. Larson stood
there, holding the stem of her reading glasses in one hand and wearing her
usual expression of cool appraisal.
    "Heard from Conley?" she asked.
    "Not yet. His first interview with Claire was just this morning."
    "Anyway…Glad I caught you