A Kyrgyz government official could not confirm the arrest, but interim government Chief of Staff Edil Baisalov told me this morning that, "We knew he was here in Bishkek until very recently. Obviously he is wanted by Italian authorities, but he is also wanted by us and he is a US citizen, so it is a very complicated situation."
Gourevitch is wanted in Italy for conspiring to defraud a telecoms company of $2.7 billion. He is close to Maxim Bakiyev, the former president's son. The two are accused of embezzling millions of dollars from the state Development Fund.
Novosti-Kazakhstan quotes Almazbek Atambayev, Kyrgyzstan’s new interim deputy for economic affairs, as suggesting that Kyrgyzstan would like to join the Customs Union of Russia, Kazakhstan and Belarus.
“We have a common past with Kazakhstan and Russia and naturally our future will be with them in the single economic space,” he said.
Is Kyrgyzstan tilting towards Moscow?
Commentators say Kyrgyzstan’s membership in the WTO is incompatible with membership in the Customs Union.
Russian Prime Minister Vladimir Putin recently used the Customs Union as an excuse to bump tariffs on gasoline sold to Kyrgyzstan by 100 percent. Many analysts believe the Customs Union is simply a tool to further Moscow’s interests.
Interesting this defense of nepotism should come as Central Asian leaders are on edge following the unrest in Bishkek, which was caused in large part by President Kurmanbek Bakiyev's relentless nepotism and corruption.
The head of the Strategic Research Center under the Tajik President, Suhrob Sharipov, said President Emomali Rahmon has the right to appoint relatives to senior posts if they have the qualifications, Asia-Plus reported on April 15.
"Family links have always been used and will be used in Tajikistan. We have such a mentality that relatives try to be close to each other. Family links will always be used in our country by everyone no matter who is in power."
Sharipov said the reason nepotism isn't so prevalent in western democracies is because of "demographic problems," as Asia-Plus put it, and because families often live scattered apart.
He does get one thing right, which should give President Rahmon some pause:
"When Askar Akayev was Kyrgyz president, he was accused of appointing his relatives to high state posts and was ousted because of this. Today Kyrgyzstan's opposition is accusing Kurmanbek Bakiyev of giving high posts to his relatives, but Bakiyev's supporters made similar accusations against Askar Akayev in 2005. Now, heads of the Kyrgyz interim government have also started giving high state posts to their relatives and friends."
Several children of Tajik President Emomali Rahmon occupy high-level posts. His 23-year-old son Rustam Emomali is lately enjoying a meteoric rise in politics and is widely considered a possible successor.
Central Asia initially became known to the outside world for its strategic place on the Silk Road of antiquity. Today, the region is still a web – sometimes smooth, sometimes roughhewn – of competing histories and raw intrigue. It is often called the New Silk Road, but it is more like a tangled, elaborate knot, awkward to unravel.
Silk, so important to the Central Asia's identity from afar, is only harvested in a few places here nowadays. But the process remains uncomfortably familiar: the delicate cocoon of the silkworm larvae is immersed in boiling water, killing the worm and unleashing its treasure.
Inside the Cocoon will disentangle the opaque world of Central Asia today.
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