Astana extradites Bakiyev's associate with Belarusian passport to Bishkek

Paizulabek Rakhmanov, a close associate of former Kyrgyz president Kurmanbek Bakiyev, has been extradited from Kazakhstan to Kyrgyzstan.

He held different public posts until April 2010.

Rakhmanov, who was put on the international wanted list for official misconduct, was  extradited from Kazakhstan to Kyrgyzstan on January 29, Interfax news agency learnt from the press service of the Prosecutor General's Office.

Rakhmanov was detained in June 2012 in Zhambyl province in Kazakhstan. He had a Belarusian passport in the name of Pazyly Tashbayev. Former Kyrgyz president Kurmanbek Bakiyev and his family live in Belarus now. He has been hiding in Belarus since April 2010. Bakiyev is accused of killing the head of his administration. He received a Belarusian passport in August 2010 and bought a house worth 2 million dollars in Minsk suburbs in 2012.

Rakhmanov is reported to have been placed in a detention facility in Bishkek. The criminal case against him is being investigated by the National Security State Committee of Kyrgyzstan.

The former official was born in Jalal-Abad province in southern Kyrgyzstan, the same region where former president Bakiyev comes from. Rakhmanov held different public posts and was a close associate of the former president from 2005 to 2010.

After the power change in Kyrgyztan, Rakhmanov and supporters of the former president tried to oppose the new authorities in Jalal-Abad. He was a governor of Jalal-Abad province, but lost his post after clashes in May 2010. After leaving Kyrgyzstan, he was placed on the wanted list.