Kazakhstan’s former intelligence chief has been arrested on suspicion of treason, the state security agency said on Saturday, as the former Soviet republic cracks down on a wave of unrest and starts to assign blame.
The detention of Karim Massimov was announced by the National Security Committee which he headed until he was fired by President Kassym-Jomart Tokayev on Wednesday after violent protests swept across the Central Asian nation.
Tokayev’s office said he had told Russian President Vladimir Putin in a phone call that the situation was stabilising.
“At the same time, hotbeds of terrorist attacks persist. Therefore, the fight against terrorism will continue with full determination,” it quoted him as saying.
The president of Kazakhstan on Friday declared that constitutional order was “mainly restored” after the country was engulfed in unprecedented unrest in recent days.
“An anti-terror operation has commenced. Law enforcement agencies are working hard. Constitutional order has been mainly restored in all regions of the country. Local authorities are in control of the situation,” Kassym-Jomart Tokayev was quoted by his spokespeople as saying Friday.
The president added, however, that “terrorists are still using weapons and are damaging people’s property” and that “counterterrorist actions” should be continued. Kazakhstan is experiencing the worst street protests since the country gained independence three decades ago. The demonstrations began over a near-doubling of prices for a type of vehicle fuel and quickly spread across the country, reflecting wider discontent over the rule of the same party since independence. —Reuters/AP
