Google – AFP, 19 December 2013
Tajikistan
President Emomali Rakhmon attends a regional economic summit
in the Great Hall
of the People in Beijing, on June 6, 2012 (Pool/AFP, Mark Ralston)
|
Berlin —
About 200 cars stolen in Germany have been tracked down in Tajikistan, where
most are now driven by family and friends of President Emomali Rakhmon, media
and officials in Berlin said Thursday.
The case of
the German-registered cars, including 93 BMWs located via GPS, has caused
friction between Germany and the Central Asian country, mass-circulation daily
Bild reported.
A German
foreign ministry spokeswoman did not confirm the Bild report that former
foreign minister Guido Westerwelle had called in the Tajik ambassador over the
case this year.
However,
she told AFP that "there have been talks with the Tajik side on
cooperation in fighting organised crime".
The cars
were located by the "Westwind" task force of German and Lithuanian
investigators, mostly using the vehicles' GPS systems, said Berlin city justice
department spokeswoman Lisa Jani.
When Tajik
authorities failed to respond to requests to help in the investigation,
Berlin's justice minister Thomas Heilmann wrote to Germany's then-foreign minister
Westerwelle, she told AFP.
"Most
of the vehicles are in the possession of people who have business or family
ties with the family of the Tajik president," Heilmann wrote to the
foreign minister, said Jani.
Tajikistan
has to date not replied to the request for legal assistance or taken steps to
return the cars, she added.
An official
contacted at the Tajik embassy in Berlin said he could not immediately provide
an official statement.
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