CENTRAL ASIA: Weekly news wrap

[ This report does not necessarily reflect the views of the United Nations]

ANKARA, 24 Feb 2006 (IRIN) - This week in Central Asia, the slaying of an opposition leader in Kazakhstan is fuelling a political crisis in the region's largest nation, international media reports claimed. Five Kazakh security service officers were arrested and the national security chief, Nartai Dutbayev, resigned, the Kazakh media reported.

The arrests and resignation came just days after Altynbek Sarsenbaiuly, a Kazakh opposition leader, his bodyguard and driver had been killed and their bodies were found in the mountains near the Kazakh commercial capital of Almaty on 13 February. Sarsenbaiuly, a former government minister and one-time ally of Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev, joined the opposition in 2004 after splitting from the government.

On Thursday, the Kazakh police announced the arrest of Erzhan Utembayev, head of the Kazakh parliamentary administration, under suspicion of taking part in the murder of Sarsenbaiuly. "Utembayev has been arrested for his links with the organisation of this crime," said the interior ministry's press service, confirming Wednesday's arrest.

Earlier, Kazakhstan's main opposition group 'For A Just Kazakhstan' called for the resignation of Nurtai Abykayev, the speaker of parliament, to avoid any conflict of interest in the investigation of the murder.

"To prevent any pressure, formal or informal, on the investigation underway we demand the immediate resignation of Nurtai Abykayev," the group said in a statement. Abykayev previously headed the National Security Committee (NSC) and Nazarbayev's administration.

In Kyrgyzstan, the Organisation for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) expressed concern over instability in the former Soviet republic with a call for dialogue. Markus Mueller, head of the OSCE mission, said in an interview published on Sunday by the local Aki-press news agency that the country was torn by a conflict between the president, parliament, prime minister and other major political actors.

"No one would dare say that stability has been established [in Kyrgyzstan]," Mueller said.

Political tensions have gripped the country since March 2005 when opposition-led protesters ended former President Askar Akaev's regime. In the most recent incident, the speaker of the Kyrgyz parliament, Omurbek Tekebaev, announced that he would resign after a row with the president. However, the lawmakers did not approve his resignation leaving Tekebaev in office.
In less than a year, three members of parliament have been killed, the country's prisons have flared up in riots and anti-government demonstrations have increased.

A group of Uzbek nationals seeking political asylum in Ukraine went on a hunger strike near the office of the UN High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) in Kiev, the Ukrainian newspaper Segodnya reported on Saturday.

"This morning we started our hunger strike," the deputy leader of Uzbek opposition party Birlik, Ismail Dadajanov, said. Dadajanov added that the Uzbek nationals called for an independent investigation into the deportation of 10 Uzbeks seeking political asylum in Ukraine and to guarantee security to Uzbek opposition activists staying in Kiev.

On Monday, an Uzbek prosecutor has asked for an opposition activist to be sentenced to 12 years in jail. The activist, Nodira Khidoyatova, was put on trial last month for economic crimes in a case her supporters claim is politically motivated. The verdict was expected on Friday.

Khidoyatova, 38, is a leading member of the opposition Sunshine Coalition, a group financed by business people that became prominent after it criticised Uzbek President Islam Karimov and called for urgent political and economic reforms. The state prosecutor has accused her of several crimes including tax evasion. She was arrested on arrival from Russia in December where she had campaigned openly against Karimov. Another senior coalition member, Sanjar Umarov, has also been arrested and faces prosecution for economic crimes.

The Uzbek media reported on Tuesday that necessary measures were being taken in an effort to prevent avian influenza, known as bird flu, in Central Asia's most populous state. "So far, no people diagnosed with bird flu have been reported in the country. However, by no means should we be complacent," a report by the government-run UzA Uzbek National News Agency said.

The migration of wild birds through the country was expected to continue till the end of May, with about 15 million flying through the country, the report added. About three to five percent of this number might stay in the country till autumn, and it had not been ruled out whether some of them could be infected with the virus, the report read.

Meawhile, in Tajikistan, the World Bank gave US $32.5 million worth of no-strings aid assistance to improve medical services and develop municipal services in the former Soviet republic, the Tajik national media reported on Tuesday.

[ENDS]