From: Vladic Ravich (vravich@sorosny.org)
Date: Mon Nov 01 2004 - 12:08:39 EST
U.S. DEPUTY SECRETARY OF STATE VISITS KAZAKHSTAN
U.S. Deputy Secretary of State Richard Armitage met with President
Nursultan Nazarbaev and a number of other high-ranking Kazakh officials
in Astana on 29 October, Khabar TV reported. Armitage's discussions with
Nazarbaev focused on bilateral relations in the context of regional
security. Armitage also met with Defense Minister Colonel General
Mukhtar Altynbaev to discuss cooperation under NATO's Partnership for
Peace Program and to thank Kazakhstan for its 27-strong peacekeeping
force in Iraq. A Kazakh Defense Ministry press release stated that the
deputy secretary of state "noted Kazakhstan's leading role in the
establishment of professional armed forces and the strategic nature of
the two countries' partnership in the area of defense and security,"
Interfax-Kazakhstan reported. DK
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