(DUSHANBE) - A strong blast shook a conference centre near Tajikistan's presidential palace on Wednesday killing a security guard and scattering debris, just as a European Union-run conference was due to start.

The blast, described as a terrorist act by the prosecutor general, occurred at the centre only 350 metres (yards) from President Emomali Rakhmon's palace.

Observers said it may have been timed to coincide with the 15th anniversary of Rakhmon becoming head of this Central Asian ex-Soviet state.

The president had left Dushanbe a few minutes earlier for anniversary ceremonies in the north of the country.

Police said the dead man was a guard who picked up the device concealed in a plastic bag while inspecting the site.

The conference, which was organised by the European Union, was to be devoted to disaster preparedness.

The EU's ambassador in the region, Adriaan van der Meer, said there was no reason to believe the blast was aimed at the EU.

"There is no indication whatsoever that it was against the EU.... We are waiting for exact news, and expect a thorough investigation," he told AFP.

Several hundred people were believed to be in the building as the blast struck, blowing out the building's windows.

The dead man's body could be seen lying on the ground under a white sheet.

Investigators combed the scene for evidence using metal detectors.

Prosecutor General Kurbonali Mukhabbatov said the blast was being treated as terrorism.

"A criminal case for terrorism will be opened," he told reporters.

Wednesday's conference was to be attended by Tajik Prime Minister Akil Akilov, however after the blast the opening was delayed.

This mountainous republic of seven million people lies to the north of turbulent Afghanistan and also borders China, Kyrgyzstan and Uzbekistan.

It was torn apart by a civil war in the 1990s that pitted secular and Islamist factions against each other.

Rakhmon has since pursued an authoritarian secular course, keeping a tight control on Islamic activism and winning praise from the West, which has poured aid money into the impoverished nation.

But domestic critics accuse him of increasing interference in family and religious life.

Analysts said Wednesday's blast was evidence of discontented elements left over from the civil war, which ended with a 1997 peace treaty.

Tajikistan still experiences periodic attacks, a previous blast having been aimed at the supreme court on June 16, although no one was killed.

"This isn't connected to today's conference, which wasn't to do with big politics," said independent analyst Abdugani Mamadazimov, explaining that certain forces wanted to disrupt the anniversary of Rakhmon's rise to power.

Another analyst, Khikmatullo Saifullozoda, said the blast could however be seen as a warning to the international community.

"The alarming fact is that in Tajikistan there are certain forces that by such methods declare their presence and their opinion. This is their signal to international organisations and embassies," he said.

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