Akhir 26, 1432, March 31, 2011, SPA-- Kyrgyzstan's president fired the country's prosecutor general on Thursday over allegations his wife had profited from murky dealings with the Russian partners in a local mobile phone company, AP reported. The State National Security Service has been investigating operations at Russian-owned Alfa Telecom, which holds a 51 percent stake in local mobile operator MegaCom that was frozen by finance police in February over suspected irregularities. The Kyrguz government holds the other 49 percent. Prosecutor general Kubatbek Baibolov had dismissed accusations of malfeasance at Alfa. But doubts were raised about his impartiality because his wife last year earned $400,000 in a real estate deal with an Alfa subsidiary. Kyrgyz authorities are concerned the affair could sour ties with Russia, its leading trading partner. During a visit in March, Russian parliament member Semyon Bagdasarov accused top Kyrgyz government officials of being behind a campaign to take over Alfa's stake and named Kyrgyz deputy Prime Minister Omurbek Babanov as being involved. The dispute underlines the political intrigue and corruption that trouble the former Soviet republic. Members of the government coalition had called for Baibolov's resignation. Baibolov's office, in turn, rejected widely aired allegations that Alfa executives have been embezzling MegaCom assets and has accused finance police of obstructing its own investigations. Kyrgyzstan, which hosts U.S. and Russian air bases, has been unsettled by political instability and ethnic violence since last year's overthrow of President Kurmanbek Bakiyev amid public anger over stagnating living standards. -- SPA
