The president of Kazakhstan, Nursultan Nazerbayev has asked the country's supreme court to review a decision disqualifying two candidates from running against him in the forthcoming presidential election.

A statement from Mr Nazerbayev's office said he'd called for the review because he wanted people to have a free choice when they came to vote.

The disqualified candidates include the man considered Mr Nazerbayev's main rival, the former prime minister, Akezhan Kazhegeldin.

He was barred from standing in the election after being fined for attending a meeting of an unregistered political party.

The BBC Central Asia correspondent says Mr Kazhegeldin is widely seen as the only candidate who could pose any kind of challenge to Mr Nazerbayev at the polls.