Uncertainty Follows Power-Sharing Pact

The government hailed a power-sharing accord with the key Islamic opposition group, but observers warned that the deal, which left other armed factions out in the cold, could lead to chaos. The accord, signed by embattled President Emamali Rakhmonov and opposition leader Sayed Abdullo Nuri in the Iranian city of Mashhad on Friday, gives 13 seats of a new 26-member National Commission for Reconciliation to each side. Rakhmonov’s spokesman said Nuri will return to the capital, Dushanbe, from exile in Afghanistan to chair the commission about two weeks after further peace talks in Moscow on Wednesday.