Word: mullah
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Dates: during 1990-1999
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...front of Communist Party Central Committee headquarters in Dushanbe, capital of Tadzhikistan. Humiliated, the group of veteran Soviet combat officers and their men sank awkwardly to the ground when ordered to do so by the throng of 10,000 militant Tadzhiks. The troops then listened grimly as a mullah recited the Islamic call to prayer from atop one of their armored vehicles...
...mullah takes the microphone and sings out the traditional Muslim call to prayer in Arabic. "Allahu akbar! Allahu akbar! Allahu akbar!" the call begins. Mesmerized, the Tadzhiks as one man -- there is not a woman in sight among the 10,000 except Alexandra -- raise their hands in the traditional Muslim posture of worship. The Soviets stiffen. The officers disappear from the windows. Except for the wail of the mullah, a total hush has descended upon the gathering. After the prayer call, the mullah reads a sura from the Koran honoring the dead. Three minutes later, the prayer and reading...