Dictators Of A Feather...

Bush nurtures close ties with Kazakhstan:

When President George W. Bush hosts Kazakh President Nursultan Nazarbayev at the White House on Friday, he will seek to bolster ties with an oil-producing Central Asian country that has lent Washington support on Iraq and Afghanistan.

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Washington has been only mildly critical of Kazakhstan's human rights record, despite allegations of corruption and the government's restrictions on the media and political opponents.

As a measure of the importance the Bush administration places on cultivating good relations with Kazakhstan, both Vice President Dick Cheney and Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice visited the country in the past year.

In addition to talks in the Oval Office and a working lunch with Bush, Nazarbayev also was hosted at the Kennebunkport, Maine, estate of Bush's father, former President George Bush.

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