CENTRAL ASIA: IRIN News Briefs

KAZAKHSTAN: President given green light to fight Islamic extremism

Kazakhstan's parliament voted on Thursday to give President Nursultan
Nazarbayev the power to send the country's armed forces into Central Asian
states facing threats from Islamic extremism, AFP reported. In a joint
session of both houses of parliament, it was agreed that the president had
the right to deploy Kazakh forces to fulfil international obligations to
help keep peace and stability in the region. The move follows a summer in
which Uzbek, Tajik and Kyrgyz military forces were embroiled in fierce
fighting with Muslim extremists who attacked their borders in August.

"Terrorist actions have gained a permanent character in the region and we
should always be ready to offer military help to our nearest neighbours,"
Defence Minister Sat Tokpakbayev said at the session. The decision
corresponds to an earlier agreement by Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan
and Uzbekistan to collectively fight organised crime, terrorism and
religious extremism. In addition, Nazarbayev's government agreed in
October, as a signatory of the Collective Security Agreement (CSA), to
work towards the creation of a rapid reaction force to be mobilised in the
case of an extremist threat to one of the states, Friday's report said.
The CSA signatories include Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Tajikistan, Russia,
Belarus and Armenia.