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To: traacs who wrote (556)	7/11/1998 10:31:00 AM
From: traacs	Read Replies (1) \| Respond to of 784

Kazakh leader declares war on corrupton 01:18 p.m Jul 10, 1998 Eastern By Dmitry Solovyov ASTANA, July 10 (Reuters) - Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev, showing concern for his administration's image amid allegations of widespread corruption, launched a campaign on Friday to eradicate graft. ''The most important thing today is to strike at corruption,'' Nazarbayev told an extraordinary meeting of the former Soviet state's Security Council, held in the new capital Astana. ''I am talking not about repression but about regaining trust in the state power structures,'' he said. ''We must show our people we can improve our image and change their view of us.'' Glancing at his ministers, Nazarbayev added: ''This is a warning to all those present.'' Corruption, bureaucracy and nepotism have become a scourge for Kazakhstan, a resource-rich Central Asian state of 16 million, where young political newcomers have quickly adopted Soviet-era habits. A vast country with ample reserves of oil, gas and metals, Kazakhstan has attracted billions of dollars in direct foreign investments. But many potential investors fear local corruption. Demonstrating his public fervour to fight corruption, Nazarbayev ordered the sacking of several transport ministry officials who had been travelling free by air. The case of Transport Minister Yerkin Kaliyev, accused of the same misdemeanour, will be passed to the presidential Supreme Disciplinary Commission which judges the ethics of state officials, Nazarbayev said. However, he made no mention of the posh villas and sleek limousines owned by many Kazakh bureaucrats whose official salaries run only into the hundreds of dollars a month. Alnur Musayev, chairman of the National Security Committee which is the successor to the Soviet-era KGB secret police, told the council that misappropriating natural resources, foreign investment funds and loans were the main targets of corrupt officials. Straightforward bribe-taking was another. Musayev's agency has launched more than 300 criminal cases against officials, policemen, judges and even public prosecutors, but he complained that very often those involved in corruption were protected by senior government figures. Some examples of friends in high places are almost comic. Two years in jail for vagrancy and a course of forcible treatment for alcoholism proved no obstacle for one man in the the western oil-rich Atyrau region to be made head of the local tax inspectorate, Musayev said. Judges often refuse to consider criminal cases against their colleagues, he added. Nazarbayev, whose son-in-law heads the national tax inspectorate and whose daughter runs the main television channel, said he would eradicate misuse of personal connections. ''I will make a nationwide address to all my friends and people with whom I worked once -- there will be no exceptions for anyone,'' he said. Nazarbayev said security bodies would check thoroughly the qualifications and experience of applicants for state jobs. Pledging a ruthless fight against graft, he ordered the government to create within one month a special state fund to take over assets confiscated from corrupt bureaucrats. --