Kazakhstan President Nursultan Nazarbayev, ruler of Central Asia's largest energy producer two decades, plans to "test" the loyalty of all citizens in a bid to avoid any form of public protest.

Fugitive Kazakh businessman Mukhtar Ablyazov has urged Chinese authorities to investigate a Kazakh-Chinese oil and gas deal that he claims was corrupt, RFE/RL's Kazakh Service reports.

The influential son-in-law of Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev has filed a libel lawsuit against several local newspapers after they published a letter accusing him of corruption, one of the outlets said on Tuesday.

A private foundation set up by billionaire financier George Soros on Tuesday urged Kazakhstan to free a jailed human rights defender, saying he was imprisoned in "an unfair trial".

As the Republic of Kazakhstan ascends to its year-long chairmanship of the Organization for Security and Cooperation in Europe (OSCE) in 2010, human rights and basic freedoms from Vilnius to Vladivostok will be faced with a curious challenge.

Astana has not fulfilled reform commitments made in connection with country's selection as OSCE chair