Close associate of ousted Kyrgyz president detained in Kazakhstan
The Kazakh Interior Ministry has announced the arrest of a close associate of Kyrgyzstan's former President Kurmanbek Bakiev, Radio Liberty reported.
The Ministry said on September 5 that Paizulabek Rakhmanov was detained in Kazakhstan's southern Jambyl region in mid-June.
It's not clear why the arrest was not announced until now.
Rakhmanov, who led Kyrgyzstan's State Material Reserves Agency during Bakiev's presidency, is wanted in Kyrgyzstan for alleged financial wrongdoing.
Rakhmanov was detained in possession of a Belarusian passport in a false name -- a circumstance that analysts say could complicate his extradition to Kyrgyzstan.
Rakhmanov fled Kyrgyzstan shortly after the violent antigovernment protests in April 2010 that led to Bakiev's ouster.
Bakiev, who has been living in Belarus since his ouster, is currently being tried in absentia in Kyrgyzstan over the deaths of nearly 100 protesters.