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Kazakhs arrest security agents over opposition leader's murder(The Irish Times Via Thomson Dialog NewsEdge)KAZAKHSTAN: Kazakhstan's national security service, the successor to the Soviet-era KGB, said yesterday that five rogue members of its elite combat unit had been arrested over the murder of an opposition leader. President Nursultan Nazarbayev condemned the murder. However, the arrests of national security officers will be embarrassing for a leader who, though popular with voters, is accused by his critics of stamping out dissent. The opposition has accused senior government officials of ordering the assassination of Altynbek Sarsenbaiuly, a critic of Mr Nazarbayev. His body was found on February 13th with bullet wounds in his back and head. "Five servicemen from KNB's Arystan forces have been arrested in connection with . . . the murder," the KNB security service said in a statement. The agency sought immediately to distance itself from the case, dubbing the men "werewolves in epaulettes", a term coined in neighbouring Russia to describe corrupt security officials. President Nazarbayev, in his first public remarks since Mr Sarsenbaiuly's death, did not refer directly to the arrests of the KNB officers. He said the murder had "dealt a blow to the image of our country". "The criminals are trying to sow fear and distrust among the people. Someone is seriously unhappy with the calm, rule of law and stability that prevail in our country," a sombre-looking Mr Nazarbayev said in remarks broadcast on state television. "Regardless of who is behind this crime, who its organisers and perpetrators were, everyone will be brought to justice and will be punished in the most severe way." Mr Sarsenbaiuly, a 43-year-old former minister and ambassador, was Mr Nazarbayev's confidant until 2003 when he defected to the opposition. His body was found on a quiet road near Kazakhstan's biggest city, Almaty, alongside the bodies of his bodyguard and driver. Mr Nazarbayev has run the former Soviet country since 1989. He has been praised for opening up an economy booming on oil production, but his rule has also been marked by corruption scandals and little tolerance of dissent. Opposition activists said the news that KNB officers could have been behind the killing confirmed their suspicions and, if true, would mark a new level of political violence in the central Asian state. "This is a logical result of the political and psychological situation that has been unfolding here in the last few years," said Oraz Zhandosov, a leading member of the For A Just Kazakhstan opposition bloc. "This takes our country to an entirely new level, a level where elite security officers can just seize people in broad daylight." A government minister has dismissed the opposition's claims that senior officials ordered the killing, saying the accusation was an attempt to grab headlines. Mr Sarsenbaiuly's murder followed the mysterious death last November of another prominent member of the opposition, Zamanbek Nurkadilov, who was found dead at his home with gunshot wounds. Police said they believed that death was a suicide. Kazakhstan has agreed to investigate the Sarsenbaiuly case jointly with the United States, saying this would avoid criticism about the investigation's transparency. The US embassy refused to comment on KNB's statement. |