MOSCOW, October 6 (RIA Novosti) - Kyrgyzstan's Security Council chief, Miroslav Niyazov, has been dismissed, the president's press service said Friday.
Niyazov had announced he would resign on Monday following a series of scandals involving senior security officials.
Heads have rolled in the Central Asian country since opposition leader Omurbek Tekebayev was seized in a Warsaw airport September 6 with half a kilogram of heroin. Pressed by parliament to look into the Security Council's inaction, President Kurmanbek Bakiyev pledged to find another job for Niyazov after his vacation.
The Polish authorities soon released Tekebayev, considering the incident a provocation against the opposition leader, but a parliamentary commission claimed that Kyrgyz secret services were involved in the incident and pressured the president to dismiss National Security Service Chairman Busurmankula Tabaldiyev and first deputy head Zhanybek Bakiyev, the president's younger brother.
In mid-September, security services were also under pressure from lawmakers over the arrest of a top intelligence official as part of an investigation into the murder of a prominent international wrestler in January.
A Security Council source said a new Security Council secretary would be appointed within three or four days. According to media sources, the president is considering seven candidates, Deputy Secretary Alik Orozov being the favorite.
