Major General Nuralisho Nazarov, First Deputy Chairman of the Tajik Border Protection Committee, told journalists on 19 September that Tajik border troops are ready to take responsibility for guarding the Tajik-Afghan border. The Afghan section of Tajikistan\'s frontier has been guarded by Russian border troops under an agreement signed between the two countries in 1993. Nazarov said the Border Protection Committee has submitted to Russia its proposal for a gradual transfer of responsibility to Tajik troops. He added that although there have been no frictions among Russian and Tajik border troops, cooperation between the two sides has left much to be desired. In addition, Nazarov noted, 90 percent of the Russian border troops serving in Tajikistan are actually Tajik citizens. (Asia-Plus Blitz)