Kazakh leader ticks off Albright

ASTANA (KAZAKHSTAN), APRIL 16. The U.S. Secretary of State, Ms. Madeleine Albright, on Saturday renewed American criticism of Kazakhstan for its sale of some 40 MiG fighter jets to North Korea.

But the President, Mr. Nursultan A. Nazarbayev, reproached Ms. Albright, too - for, in essence, not minding her own business.

The exchange of remarks, at a news conference after a meeting stemmed from the recent appointments of two senior government officials whose dismissal last year helped persuade Ms. Albright not to impose sanctions on Kazakhstan over the MiG sale.

Ms. Albright is on a visit to three former Soviet republics in the Caspian Sea region.

In her remarks, Ms. Albright praised Ms. Nazarbayev for tightening controls on the flow of conventional weapons abroad since the sale. The Kazakh leader, too, thanked the U.S. for its advice on how to prevent illegal transfers of conventional arms.

- New York Times

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Section  : International
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