KZBlog

Sorry that once again this blog went through a dry spell. No sooner had I returned from Mongolia than I was deluged with work on a new assignment. The past two or three weeks have been heavy with news.

Most notably, Rakhat Aliyev most definitely does read the Wall Street Journal In fact, in a recent interview he outlined detailed allegations of corruption involving the President. As The Registan points out, none of the scandals he invokes are new. But the level of detail he provides is. And the fact that he provides alleged documents proving his claim. While Josh speculates on Aliyev’s motivation, the WSJ believes Aliyev might be seeking US protection–if he has information useful to the US and can prove that he is at risk of harassment or assassination, US security might be willing to offer him protection. Or at least, the bigger a noise he makes, the more noise his disappearance would make–providing a disincentive if anyone wants to get rid of him. That of course gives Aliyev motivation to provide false evidence or exaggerate what documents he does have. Adam Kesher at Neweuraisa makes another good point. Aliyev apparently produced blank ballots from the 1999 Election claiming that they were given to him to stuff boxes. Well, that doesn’t say much about Aliyev’s innocence, does it?

The other big scandal regarding lobbyist Stephen Payne is being very well covered and I have no insights to add. Check out:

• The Roberts Report for excellent and clear explanation and links to documents and primary sources
• The Registan has the video of Payne recommending that Akayev make a donation to the Bush Presidential Library if he wants access to powerful people *wink* *wink* *nudge* *nudge*
  And this just in:
• from the Times UK
  

  In a covertly recorded video Payne appeared to confirm that he had been instrumental in getting a UN certificate for Timur Kulibayev, the billionaire son-in-law of Nursultan Nazarbayev, the president of Kazakhstan.

  The document is not a passport but according to UN spokesman it confers “privileges which are akin to those of representatives of governments” on the bearer when travelling abroad.

  In practice this means he or she is less likely to be impeded at airports by customs or other regulatory bodies.

  Of course whether his claim is true or whether he was bragging to a new client is something for the courts to decide.

  Tomorrow I’ll write about the good news, I promise! There are a number of heartwarming stories out about Kazakhstan and even a few stories that make the government look really good!