Dushanbe, Tajikistan - Synagogue Could Be Demolish In Two Weeks

Dushanbe, Tajikistan - Despite widespread international protests, authorities in Tajikistan are still planning to demolish the country's only synagogue to make way for the expansion of a presidential palace. And while the precise timing of the synagogue's destruction remains unclear, there are indications that it might be carried out before the end of the month.

A spokesman for the Tajik embassy in Washington confirmed this arrangement, saying, "We do not like to speak about destroying the synagogue in Dushanbe, but rather about relocating it elsewhere."

"The synagogue was already partly destroyed, and soon it will be completely ruined," said Leonid Stonov, FSU Bureau Director of the Union of Councils for Soviet Jews, a Washington-based advocacy group.