ANKARA, 17 Feb 2006 (IRIN) - An opposition leader was shot dead in Kazakhstan, together with his driver and bodyguard, international news agencies reported on Monday. The body of Altynbek Sarsenbayev, a leader of the opposition Nagyz Ak Zhol party, was found with two others in a car by the side of a road in the southeastern part of the country's commercial capital, Almaty, a spokesman for the provincial interior bureau reportedly said. Full report

ANKARA, 17 Feb 2006 (IRIN) - CONTENTS: PAKISTAN: Roots of the Balochistan conflict run deep Full report

BISHKEK, 16 Feb 2006 (IRIN) - A meeting of environmental experts has wrapped up in the Kyrgyz capital, Bishkek, as part of a regional project on environmental safety and emergency preparedness in Ferghana Valley. Full report

ANKARA, 10 Feb 2006 (IRIN) - This week in Central Asia an avalanche claimed the lives of a family of three in Tajikistan, the country's emergency ministry reported on Wednesday. The disaster killed the family near the eastern city of Khorog, about 650 km east of the capital, Dushanbe.Full report

ANKARA, 10 Feb 2006 (IRIN) - CONTENTS: AFGHANISTAN: No alternative to opium, say farmers Full report

ANKARA, 3 Feb 2006 (IRIN) - A Kazakh opposition youth leader in police custody on embezzlement charges claimed that he was beaten and abused by investigators, rights groups reported on Thursday. Makhambet Abzhan, leader of the Union of Patriotic Youth of Kazakhstan (UPYK), complained in a letter to prosecutors that he had also been threatened with torture and subjected to verbal abuse, the Kazakh-based International Bureau for Human Rights (IBHR) said.Full report

ANKARA, 3 Feb 2006 (IRIN) - CONTENTS: AFGHANISTAN: Government to have greater control over aid pledged in London Full report

ANKARA, 1 Feb 2006 (IRIN) - The International Organization for Migration (IOM) on Tuesday launched a new public information campaign in Turkey aimed at raising awareness of the impact of human trafficking on children and families. Full report

ANKARA, 27 Jan 2006 (IRIN) - This week in Central Asia, Tajikistan said it would tighten control over its largest natural reserve in the south in a bid to prevent bird flu, the Russian ITAR-TASS news agency reported on Saturday.Full report

ANKARA, 27 Jan 2006 (IRIN) - CONTENTS: AFGHANISTAN: UN warns of bird flu risk AFGHANISTAN: TV...Full report

CENTRAL ASIA: Weekly news wrap

CENTRAL ASIA: Focus on conflict prevention in Ferghana Valley

CENTRAL ASIA: Focus on security threat from radical Islamic groups

CENTRAL ASIA: Interview with Felix Corley, religious rights activist

CENTRAL ASIA: Interview with OSCE senior adviser on freedom of the media