A leading Kazakh Member of Parliament, Serik Abdrakhmanov, has called on the government to investigate whether last year's controversial sale of MIG fighter jets to North Korea was carried out with official permission.

In a parliamentary question tabled on Wednesday, Mr Abdrakhmanov said the Kazakh armed forces chief, Maj-Gen Bakhytjan Yertayev, who is on trial for his alleged involvement in the sale, had been acting on the basis of a government resolution.

Mr Abrakhmanov told the BBC that he believed that the general was being made a scape-goat to cover up the involvement of more senior officials.

The government has one month to respond. And in another development a group of 26 MPs have written to President Nazarbayev voicing their support for Maj-Gen Yertayev and calling for a full investigation into the issue.

From the newsroom of the BBC World Service