(Public domain)
DUSHANBE, September 7, 2007 (RFE/RL) -- Tajik President Emomali Rahmon has opened a three-day international conference in Dushanbe marking the 800th anniversary of the birth of the Persian poet, philosopher, and spiritual leader Mowlana Jalaleddin Rumi.
The conference is sponsored by UNESCO, the Tajik government, and several local and international nongovernmental organizations.
Delegates include philosophers, poets, and historians from 28 countries.
A similar international conference is planned in Tehran from October 28 to October 30.
(RFE/RL's Tajik Service)